Deja Vu
by PockyisLife
Summary: Sam's love life is currently on life support. With the help of some co-workers and friends, Santana, his self-appointed match-making fairy godmother, is going to change that by bringing in a blast from the past, whether Sam likes it or not.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Just to let everyone, especially those copy writers and lawyers, know that I do not, under any circumstances, own Glee. If I did, I would not have to take out loans for school, I would have a real, functioning laptop and Samcedes would have a permanent residence in that show. **

**Author's note: So this is my first Samcedes story. I normally just write Inuyasha and Naruto stories but I have decided to do something different- though I have to admit, it's kind of weird writing something that is not anime related. But I'm excited to try something new :D**

**_Monday_**

Santana Lopez cannot believe she's agreed to this.

Seriously, this is Santana. Santana does not witness friends down ten shots in a matter of fifteen minutes. Santana does not ask her bartenders to make sure her friend's shot is not completely made out of alcohol because the last thing she needs is to deal with a blacked-out man who is a great deal taller than her. And Santana certainly does not approve being a drinking buddy- or in her case, a drinking watcher.

Is this is what her life is reduced to? Being a drinking buddy when she isn't even the one drinking along? She thinks about leaving him to talk to a gorgeous woman who has been sending her interested glances for the past half hour.

But no, she decides quite reluctantly, she cannot do so because friends do not do that to friends.

She really needs to stop being so nice.

Her buddy takes another shot.

This is getting completely out of hand.

She continues to watch the sad, pathetic sight in front of her, wishing she is anywhere, any place, but at the bar.

One of the many advantages of owning a bar is that all the drinks are free, at least for her. Santana is most grateful for that perk. She can only imagine the amount of debt she will be in if she actually has to pay for anything.

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but still.

She is not much of a drinker. That phase back in high school is long gone. She has wine here and there, but being in a place that serves alcohol all day turns her away from it. Most of the time.

So who are the free drinks for?

Certainly and unfortunately, not for her. They are all for the King of Everything Emo, himself, Sam Evans.

Now don't get Santana wrong; Sam's a nice guy. He really is, and it has to be the truth because Santana, a strong believer that there is an asshole in every person, does not think much of other people. Sam has a nice job And when he's not acting like an emotionally-wrecked teenager, he is great to hang out with. He does have an unnatural obsession with Avatar and Star Trek, but his uncanny sense of humor almost makes up for it. To make things even better, he is cute, attractive enough; she supposes she can say _hot_ but he isn't her type so maybe she won't use it.

If she wants to be completely honest, and she mostly is, no man is her type.

It is a sad sight, to see Sam like this. Obviously something is going on and she plans to find out what it is before the night ends.

Santana has known Sam for quite some years, since middle school to be exact. She hated him for a short while- he played football and she was a Cheerio so it happened. It didn't last long, not because of Sam and his weird ways of being... him, but because the Latina realized that no matter how wonderful Sam's eyes and lips were, she was never _that_ attracted to him. They remained good friends. They even agreed to move to New York City from Lima, Ohio where Sam went to school and Santana decided to open a bar, after dealing with a few failed business prospects.

Sam works for McKinley Magazine as a sports writer. He does his job well and quite well-known in the professional sports arena. He has been nominated for a few awards, even a Pulitzer. He likes what he does- it is the second best thing to becoming a professional football player- and he gets paid well.

Sam comes to Santana's Bar (yes, a very original name but the owner swears she will change it when she stops being lazy) three times a week, almost always right after work. This has been his routine for the past three years. Santana does not mind; the writer is quite entertaining when he has a few drinks in his system. Sam's lucky she knows for him for quite some time, because Santana is never this generous with any of her customers. Even to beautiful women.

Sam takes another shot.

The bartender, Louis, gives his boss an alarmed look. He does not want to give the man any more drinks. Like his boss, he is in no mood to deal with wasted patrons- but Santana brushes him off. Sam is fine. Just as long as the shots remain diluted.

Santana frowns. Screw this. She is tired of all of this brooding. She snatches Sam's shot glass, earning a groan of protest from the man, crosses her arms, narrows her eyes and asks in a bitchy tone that only she can master, "What the hell happened?"

Because there is _always _something happening with that man.

Sam groans again, this time in irritation. Why is that every time he meets up with Santana she thinks there is something wrong with him? He is fine. His boss didn't have a panic attack for once. He finished his article on time- quite an amazing feat. His siblings are not out to get him- even if they live in another part of the country, they still manage to get under his skin. He is just fine.

Unfortunately for the writer, Santana is nowhere near convinced.

"I'm fine, Santana. Nothing is wrong. I had a wonderful day at work and might even see the new Batman movie tomorrow night. Can't a man enjoy a drink without getting interrogated every single damn time?"

"Is this about Rebecca?"

That is her name.

Right...?

Santana always has to ask about Sam's flings when Sam acts and drinks out of the ordinary. Most of his problems are women-related and demanding answers is the only way she can get some information out of him.

"Rebecca?" Sam groans for the third time when he realizes whom Santana is referring to. "For the last time, her name is Rachel."

Santana just takes a sip of her soda. She promises herself that she will not drink of the rest of the night because she has a strong feeling that things are going to get interesting- it always does as far as Sam's love life is concerned- and running a bar while intoxicated isn't a good look.

"Rachel, Rebecca almost the same name," She snorts when Sam rolls his eyes. "Anyway, as you were saying..."

Sam knows he should not talk about Rachel to the one who despises her. In reality, Santana has never been too fond of any of his girlfriends, so it should not matter at this point. Rachel is nice and pretty but intense- yes, good word. Very intense and she definitely does not have a problem with knowing what she wants:

All Rachel want to do in life is to star on Broadway, get married and have three kids- two girls and a boy to be exact- before she reaches the age of thirty. She had told Sam this a couple of days ago- which would have not been a big deal if she hadn't ask- no, more like demand- that they got married that night.

Yes, that terrified the living daylights out of Sam.

"We have decided that it would be a better idea, for the both of us, that for now on we engage in a strictly platonic relationship."

Ah, so Sam _is_ in depression mode because of a woman.

Not surprising at all.

"In other words, you two are over."

Sam gives the bar owner a grim but agreeable look before downing another shot.

Santana eyes Louis.

Louis nods in returns.

Good, this one is diluted too.

"She wanted to get married," Sam says, sounding a bit horrified, pushing the glass towards the growing pile of empty shot glasses. Clearly, he is not feeling the idea of being legally bounded to someone as much as Rachel. "She wanted us to go to City Hall and get married. And to top it off, she wanted to bring Finn, her ex-boyfriend to the wedding so he could be one of the witnesses."

"Finn, as in Finn Hudson, the firefighter?"

"_Yes_."

Santana snorts. This does not surprise her, not one bit. That Rachel girl is a nut case- an overachieving nut case. And that woman has the nerve to call her an insensitive asshole. Sure, if Santana has been someone else, she would have admitted that she kind of deserved the insult. Maybe telling her that she needed to be in a psychiatric ward instead of a theater is a bit harsh.

But in Santana's defense, Rachel is crazy.

Of course Sam has failed to mention to Rachel that his bar owning friend likes to speak whatever is on her mind no matter the repercussions. Santana prefers the "straightforward and I don't give a damn if it hurts your feelings" route. Some say that she is being rude, crass and every other adjective that go along with those; she just calls it being honest.

Something the world definitely needs more of.

"Marriage, very interesting," Santana says, giving Sam an amused look. Trust Sam to always choose the crazy ones. "Didn't you two know each other for like what? Three weeks?'

"Nineteen days."

Because according to Sam, two days makes a significant difference.

Santana does not think this way. She rolls her eyes, thinking about what the hell was she thinking when she agreed to date Sam. Five year olds have more knowledge about the dating world than Sam and that is just plain-

Santana needs to explain this herself. Well, explain why Sam is the most clueless man in the dating arena. See, Sam does not get over break ups well, not matter who it is. He tends to go into emo-brooding-sulking-depression mode for about two weeks and then finds himself another girl that only exists to break his fragile, little heart.

And he has the nerve to wonder why his personal life is down the toilet.

Because Sam is Sam, he does not let his ex-girlfriend's go without a fight. He tried a few times- nine to be exact- to do so with Quinn. It didn't work out but he kept on trying. He claimed it was out of love. Santana claimed that he needed to move the fuck on. Quinn was dating an aspiring male model; she had no time for Sam.

Santana wonders if they are still together, not that she cares.

And then there was Mercedes.

Mercedes Jones was one of Sam's many ex-girlfriends- no, more like a friend with a crap load of benefits, but Santana does not care for significant details. They messed around for four years straight. According to Santana, that is basically dating, but just not officially. On the other hand, Sam does not see it that way. Then again, he does not see or understand many things in his life, so his point of view doesn't count.

Santana- she liked Mercedes. It was quite an impressive feat considering that she pretty much despised every one of Sam's girlfriends, especially, Quinn for reasons she rather not delve into. She was sassy, had a no-nonsense attitude that could keep any man on his toes and was easy on the eyes. She and Sam were supposed to stay together. She and her on-again-off-again girlfriend and friend, Brittany, had it all planned out.

Then Sam, with all of his denial and insecurity issues, had to go ahead and screw it all up.

Sam definitely did not that take that break up well.

_At all_.

(Sam would later say that it was not a break up because one would have to be in a _real_, official relationship in order to end it. Santana, as usual, ignored him because people did not lock themselves in their apartment for three months and try to drink themselves to death over a fuck buddy.)

Sam is an idiot. Mercedes is perfect for him and all he has to do is accept that little fact, get out of that annoying ass world of denial- he is still in love with that woman- find a way to get her back, get married and have beautiful biracial babies.

Oh man, she is a _genius_.

Why hasn't she thought about this before?

Santana rubs her hands together as her frown slowly turns into a wide, devious smirk. She knows how she can solve this little issue. She is going to do the impossible and get Sam a girlfriend.

A real, functional girlfriend.

A girlfriend that she will not have to threaten or chase away.

And certainly not one whom Sam sees- or rather fucks- once and is never to be seen again.

And her name is Mercedes Jones.

Who, conveniently, just happens to live in the largest city in the United States, in the amazing part of New York City that is Manhattan.

Unless she moved.

Santana frowns at the thought.

Now for those who know Santana, this is completely out of character for her. She normally can care less about other people's fail of a love lie. She is not, by any means, a romantic. She is the type of person who will ruin romantic movies and complain that the monogamous, life long, lifestyle is not a rational one. She prefers having a girlfriend for the night, not the rest of her life.

But she has had enough with his bullshit.

"I just want to let you that this emo-depressed thing you're trying to pull off is getting on my last nerves," she grumbles before Sam can protest, which he is about to do because Sam protests about everything Santana says. "And your depression will be the reason why I'm going to start drinking again. And if I become a drunk, I'm hunting your ass down."

"Thank you, Santana. Though I don't think my 'emo-depressed thing,' as you call it, is that bad."

"Well, I for one, think that's unacceptable," Santana replies, definitely catching Sam's sarcasm. She should be the one with the attitude, not him. Instead of running a bar like an owner is supposed to do while searching for a lover for the night, she has to sit here and worry about another's mental state. "And as your female best friend, it is my job to change it and make it better."

Sam almost drops the shot glass in his hand. He gulps and places the glass to the side. His eyebrows crease together. He isn't sure how he should he respond to this. He is not very enthusiastic about whatever his friend is implying. Santana and change are never a good combination. Every time she wants to solve an issue, as far as Sam is concerned, she ends up adding more to the problem.

"And because I am feeling quite generous right now, I have decided that I am going find you a suitable mate so I can live my life without dealing with a brooding alcoholic."

And that was why Sam should have gone straight home after work.

"I am not an alcoholic," Sam contests. He honestly does not know why Santana believes that he needs to be in Alcoholic Anonymous- seriously, she does; she has been sending him fliers for the past four months. Okay, so he likes the taste of beer and Vodka and Johnny Walker and other things that he cannot remember due to almost-tipsy state. But that does not mean anything. Being a writer for a top magazine is a pretty stressful job, thank you very much.

Sam reaches for another shot- maybe he should slow down on the drinking- but then pauses. He quickly turns to Santana, eyes widening in horror then amusement.

"You're going to find me a girlfriend?" He asks, not sure if this is a mean prank or not. He tries to hold back his laughter because the thought of Santana playing matchmaker is downright hilarious. He chooses to ignore the vicious glare sent his way- he's pretty immune to it.

His humorous demeanor changes when he realizes that Santana is nowhere near joking and he is not on an episode of _Punk'd_. This is real. Santana is actually thinking about doing this. He gulps at the horrifying thought. "Wait- you're serious about this?"

Santana should have been offended that Sam, of all people, is questioning her abilities. She decides to let it go, just this once. Only because she is on a mission and insulting one of the main subjects of said mission isn't going to do her any good.

"Of course I'm serious, Trouty Mouth. Your lack of a love life is interfering with mine, so therefore something must be done. And no, having a string of one night stands does not count as a love life."

Sam does not see the problem with one night stands. He is a man with needs and those women are more than willing to satisfy them. Most of the time it does not do him any good, but it's the thought that counts. There is one woman who can make him not act like a man whore, but she does not matter anyway. Or so he claims.

"You're one to talk..."

Weak comeback. Sam is normally much better at this but he is beginning to feel the effects of having fifteen shots.

Santana gives him a look- she doesn't know what it's called but it's a pretty nasty one. If Sam thinks he is going to make this conversation about her then he has another thing coming. This is about him and only him.

"See the difference between you and me is that I know what I want. I personally do not see the problem with having fun and not being in a committed relationship. You, on the other hand, can't deal with that. You're trying to do the same thing as I am and its failing miserably. You're only dealing with those women because you still haven't recovered from your rebound period from your last _real_ girlfriend."

And she isn't talking about Quinn.

"That's not true."

Santana wants everyone to know that Sam is not the best at defending himself.

"And instead of dealing with this issue like an adult, you are sulking around, feeling sorry for yourself, drinking like a madman and screwing any person with a vagina. Well, I have news for you, Samuel Evans, I'm not throwing you a fucking pity party. I'm going to fix this for you, whether you like it or not."

"_Santana_," Sam starts off before releasing a sigh. Santana already knows what he is going to say. He can be so predictable at times, though she is quite impressed that Sam can still form coherent sentences. "As much as I appreciate you giving me free drinks and being concerned for my well-being, this is not necessary. I have enough things on my plate. I can't afford to play boyfriend again."

Santana snorts.

Sam knows Santana won't leave him alone about this. He knows he should have just stayed at the office; he's pretty sure he has another article to write. Sure, he won't be happy about writing more than he needs to, but it's sounding a hell of a lot better than getting his love life crucified by Santana.

He asks the bartender for another drink.

From the look Santana was giving him, Louis respectfully denies Sam's request.

"I would appreciate if you respect my decision."

Santana sighs.

So Sam isn't feeling the idea of Santana being his fairy, lesbian, matchmaking godmother.

No matter. Sam can believe what he wishes but Santana is going to get him back with Mercedes, even if she has to butt some heads.

She smirks before finishing off her soda.

She first needs to call Brittany.

**I don't know. I just find Santana playing matchmaker extremely amusing. **

**Just a little warning: I haven't watched Glee in a while- sad, I know- so if the characters are completely out of character, I am so sorry. But don't worry, I have no plans to make them completely OOC, at least not intentionally. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter. I have vowed to myself that I am not going to update every other month like I did with my other stories. And, please, by all means, tell me what you think! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Just to let everyone, especially the copy writers and lawyers, know that I do not, under any circumstances, own Glee. If I did, I would not have to take out loans for school, I would have a real, functioning laptop and Samcedes would have a permanent residence in that show.**

**Author's Note: Wow, I have to admit. I was not expecting the amount of feedback I got. Thank you all! You guys are amazing and I am one happy person.**

**_Tuesday_**

Sam arrives at Santana's Bar the next day at his usual time.

Sam's presence shocks Santana, to say the least. She swears that he is still mad at her for suggesting that she takes the time out of her busy life to improve his. Seriously, one would think that it is sweet for her to care about him so much that she is willing to find him a significant other.

That man can be so ungrateful sometimes.

"And how was your day, Mr. I Can't Keep A Girlfriend To Save My Life?"

Sam turns and glares at his friend. She cannot stop reminding him that he is bad at this dating thing, can she? He should have known he would be going through yet another relationship inquisition session. Honestly, if it hasn't been for the free drinks, he is sure to get, he would have rushed home and watch Avatar for the umpteenth time.

"It was fine."

It is always _fine_. Santana wishes Sam would give her a more detailed account of his work that doesn't include some silly intern trying and failing to seduce his editor-in-chief.

Santana looks around. Actually, screw that. She does not want to know about work. She has a task at hand and she has to carry it out before her partner-in-crime comes. The plan is simple, at least at this moment: get some more information from Sam and meet up with Brittany to discuss a course of action.

If she is going to do this then she has to make sure that Sam does not catch on to whatever she is planning. He may be slow in some areas but he will definitely know when she is up to something.

"Whatever happened to that woman you messed around with in college? You know... um, what was her name? Mercedes?" Santana asks casually. She ignores the disapproving look from Louis. That man needs to mind his own damn business and do his job. So what if he she told him everything? She does not need his input at this moment.

Sam spits out his beer. Some of it lands on Louis, who just swallows up his frustration the moment his boss gives him the mother of all Santana-patented glares. Sam apologizes then realizes what is going on. Okay, that is a very unexpected question. "W- what?"

Santana tries her very best to hide a smirk. "Mercedes, your ex-girlfriend. What happened to her? I thought you two were getting serious. I was expecting to hear some weddings bells, you know."

"Nothing happened," Sam quickly replies, ignoring the unnerving smirk on the bar owner's face. Of course she thinks this is entertaining. Anything that has to deal with Sam's private life is entertaining, much to Sam's displeasure. He clears his throat; this is one topic that he definitely wants to get away from. "And she wasn't my girlfriend."

"Oh really? Well, if that's what you want to believe..." Santana says, still smirking. She'll let Sam believe what he wants, but only for a little while until she can find the perfect way to bring him back to reality. "And don't you dare say that nothing happened. You two aren't together, swapping saliva, among other things, so something must have happened."

"Nothing happened. We had fun and it ended- anyway, there's no point worrying about her now. She's dating a professional football player. For quite a while, may I add."

It's now Santana's turn to spit out her drink. She makes sure it doesn't land on Louis. How would he know this? She's positive that he hasn't seen Mercedes, in like what, five years. She gives him a suspicious look. "And how do you know what? Do you still talk to her?"

"Rumors at work spread like a wildfire," Sam replies, not noticing the 'what the fuck' look Santana is giving him. "And no, I don't talk to her. The most I've said to her was 'hello.' She works at the Journal with me-"

_What the hell?_

"Since when?"

How is she's only learning about this _now?_

"Three years ago."

Santana crosses her arms and glares at Sam. This is one of the times when she questions how the hell Sam has a job with one of the biggest magazine companies in the country. Seriously, he cannot be _this_ slow.

"So let me get this straight," she begins, trying to digest this unsettling information without flat-out calling Sam a moron- not an easy feat to achieve, mind you. "You have been working with Mercedes, in the same damn office for three fucking years and the only thing you've said to her was _hello_?"

"That wasn't the only thing," Sam says, defending himself from Santana's very nasty look. He doesn't see the issue. This isn't his fault. Do you know how awkward it is to work with your ex-lover, whom you thought you'd never see again? And anyway, they don't work at the same department, so it would only make sense that he doesn't talk to Mercedes much. "I ask 'how are you doing?' sometimes. And most of the time, she responds and asks me the same question."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

If Sam doesn't grow some brain cells soon, she's going to kill him.

A few patrons give Santana a look thanks to her little outburst. Santana does not pay them any mind and doesn't care enough to remind some people that she's from Lima Heights. All of her anger is directed at her dense-as-fuck friend.

Sam doesn't say anything. He takes a long drink of his beer. He's not expecting that reaction either- yes, Santana can be very outspoken, but this is over the top, even for her. He cannot help but wonder why Santana cares so much about him talking to Mercedes.

Santana takes a deep break. Well, at least she's learned about this little fact before she meets up with Brittany. At least she knows that Mercedes lives in the city and she doesn't have to hunt her down- as interesting as that sounds, she has a bar to run and cannot afford to go on a cross-country trip to find Sam's wife.

"This may not be bad..." Santana says to herself, thinking about how she may have to tweak her initial match making plans, "This can work..."

"What?"

"Nothing!" the bar owner quickly replies, flustered- oh how she hates herself for being so- because she once again forgot how to keep her inner thoughts in her head. "Nothing. Just talking to myself." She pauses. "So, can you please explain to me what you haven't had an adequate conversation with your college room-mate and co-worker? The boyfriend excuses does not count."

"There's nothing to talk about," Sam says. If he is honest with himself, he doesn't know why he could not spark a conversation with his ex-friend. Nothing serious went on between them and they went their separate ways in the most amicable way possible. He's not going to tell Santana this; she may- no, she will- jump to conclusions.

Sam leans towards Santana with a suspicious look. There must be a reason Santana why is bringing up Mercedes and he has a feeling that he isn't going to like it. "You're still not thinking about hooking me up with someone, right?"

Crap.

"Of course not."

"Good." Sam smiles and pats Santana on the back.

He knows that although she has good intentions, Santana isn't going to go through this matchmaking plan. Santana does not do romance- he knows this from experience. "Because I'm enjoying the single life."

"Of course you are."

Sam purposely ignores Santana's sarcasm.

It becomes silent between the two friends.

Then a gift from the divine comes in a form of a text message. Sam jumps when his phone beeps. He takes it out of his pocket, looks at the screen and thanks every deity under the sun for his Figgins wanting him come back to the office. He doesn't care if he may have to go through another lecture- Figgins loves his lectures. He's going to be free from Santana and her sudden interest in his past of his- fling's grasp.

He slides off the stool, gives Louis a ten, and says to his annoyed friend with a wide smile. He cannot hide his excitement. "Well, as exciting as this conversation is, Figgins wants me back at the office, so I will see _you_ tomorrow." He puts on his coat. "Thanks for the beer, as usual."

He gives her a thumbs up before he rushing out the bar.

Santana glares at his retreating form. This is just like Sam- running away from difficult situations. No matter, he is not going to run away from this Mercedes topic for long.

Louis, the bartender, strides towards his boss with an amused expression on his face. "So that did not turn out well."

Santana's glare does not scare him; after working for the feisty woman for almost two years, he is completely immune to Santana's most famous look.

"Did I ask for your opinion?'

Damn it. Louis is right. She definitely needs Brittany to come to the bar so her friend can make things better. Brittany always makes things better.

Louis shrugs, holding his hands up in defense. "Sorry for over speaking. Are you sure about this match-?"

"Look, I know what I'm doing. Leave me the hell alone and do your damn job."

Louis just shakes his head. He doesn't want to piss off his boss and lose his job because he thinks her match making plan isn't going to work. He cleans some more glasses and finally gives his customer his vodka.

Santana rolls her eyes. How dare her employee question her abilities? Sure, she has never done anything like this before but she's known Sam for years. If someone is going get Sam a girlfriend that he actually likes then it's going to be her.

For the next ten minutes, Santana remains at the bar waiting for Brittany to come. She does not worry about Brittany not showing up; she's not the type of person who would ditch someone. She thinks about doing some office things, but then decides that she is too lazy to do anything that consists of using a lot of her brain power.

Santana just happens to look back at the door and her face instantly breaks into a smile- a rare occurrence. She takes out a plastic bag full of two medium-sized boxes out of her purse. Her life just becomes better as the one woman who has made her question her "flings only" life walks her bar.

Brittany looks like she's just ran a marathon, but damn, she's still the most beautiful woman Santana has ever laid eyes on.

Santana seriously needs to stop acting like a love-sick school girl.

Brittany waves when she locates her friend and quickly approaches her. She avoids bumping into everyone the best she can; coming from dance practice, she is sweating like crazy and is pretty sure she does not smell the freshest. She makes sure she freshens up a bit before coming to the bar but there is only so such she can do in five minutes.

Santana insisted, no demanded, that they meet up immediately after her practice.

The dancer drops her duffel bag on the stool next to Santana and waves again. "Hey, how's it going? I want to give you a hug but, as you can tell, that probably won't be a good idea."

Santana can careless about the sweat stains on Brittany's rather tight tank top.

So, Santana has a small, miniscule, insignificant, not worth mentioning-

Fine, she is in love with her and it isn't her fault. Brittany is drop dead gorgeous and probably one of the sweetest people she has ever met.

Unfortunately for her, Brittany is never going to be hers. She made it perfectly clear that she wanted them to be friends- it was really because she was dating Artie, her boyfriend at the time and she didn't believe in cheating but Santana, as usual was not a details person. Who is Santana to mess that up? Sure she wants more, but life isn't fair and that is that.

"And hello to you too." Santana pulls out a stool. "Sit down. We have a lot to talk about," she turns to Louis, who is trying his best not to get his boss' attention. "Give me a Shirley Temple."

"Wow, I haven't been here in a while and you still know what I order," Brittany says, beaming, as she sits down. She says hello to Louis who waves back. "He seems nice."

"Very. Thank you for coming," Santana says. "I hope leaving immediately did not cause you much trouble. I know how your crazy dance teacher can get."

Brittany shrugs. Sue is not as bad as everyone thinks. Yes, she has her moments when she thinks that she is some top spy or thinks she is training the Olympic dance team, but overall, she is cool. "Oh don't worry about it. Sue Sylvester will probably throw a fit but that's normal."

Santana slowly slides the two boxes of Dots candy to Brittany as if she is giving her a peace offering. She smiles at the confused expression on her friends face.

Brittany eyes the candy and gives Santana a suspicious look. Okay, there is only one reason why the Latina would exploit her love for Dots. "Okay, what happened?"

"Sam broke up with Rachel."

Brittany opens one of the boxes and takes out a handful of the chewy candles. She should not take them; she really shouldn't. Sue is forcing all of the dancers on this intense detox diet for some odd reason. But she cannot help herself; the candy is like chewy heaven to her taste buds.

"Wow that was fast. I totally knew that wasn't going to last. She was too, I don't know, weird for me. How is he taking it?"

"How he takes every break up. He came here yesterday and tried to get wasted. Of course being the smart person I am, I requested that he only got diluted shots."

Brittany laughs. "You would." She pops in another Dot. "So what does this have to do with us?"

"I care about Sam. I really do but I am sick and tired of being his lean-on buddy when his love life turns into shit. Therefore, I plan to fix this annoying ass problem. And that's why you are here. As you may know, making others have lovey- dovey lives is not my specialty."

Brittany nods in agreement then stops. "Hold up. You, Santana, are going to find Sam a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I am," Santana says, smiling. She should really be ashamed at herself for being so damn happy about making Sam happy. This is so not like her. She blames Brittany and her never ending love of fluffiness. "But I'm going to him back with someone."

"Who?"

"You remember Mercedes Jones, right?"

Brittany pops another Dot into her mouth before replying, "Yeah, she was Sam's girlfriend. The one who liked Whitney Houston." Eyes wide, she stops chewing. "Oh my god, you're going to get them back together?"

See, if Brittany can see it then why can't Sam? Everyone, and she meant everyone, thought they were dating. Even Sam's mother, if she wasn't mistaken. And his brother and sister. Hell, probably half the country.

"You bet I am."

Brittany cannot help but smile. She simply adores love stories and happy endings. She believes that every person is entitled to a special someone- except for bad guys; they don't deserve happiness. She does not know why Santana is so against romance; it's such a wonderful, beautiful, magnificent feeling to be in love.

Brittany rubs her hands together in excitement. She always likes scheming with Santana. "We are actually going to play match maker together," she says, clapping her hands. "Let's call it Operation: Samcedes."

Santana looks up at Brittany and shakes her head with disagreement. "Brittany, we are adults now. Let's sound more professional."

Brittany pouts. "I think Samcedes is a wonderful name for this scheme we are creating. It is creative and it's straight to the point. Don't you like straight to the point?"

"Call it whatever you want," Santana mumbles. It isn't worth it arguing with Brittany about a name. They have more pressing issues to attend to. "Okay, I talked to Sam earlier and the fool told me that Mercedes has worked with him for the past three years."

Brittany cocks her head to the side with a confused look on her face. "Oh. That's interesting."

"Oh and it gets better: the only thing he has said to her was hello. It's like he's afraid to talk to her," Santana says, annoyed. "The man is on Denial Island and it is our job is to get him off of it."

Brittany nods with understanding. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it sounds nice, but what if this isn't something Sam wants? We can't force this on him if it isn't what he wants."

Santana frowns. As usual, Brittany is right. She's going to have to convince Sam to convince himself to convince Mercedes to date him again- it sounds complicated, she knows. If he doesn't want to do it- which he totally does but denial is a horrible, terrifying things, then she has no point to press on.

"I'm not going to force him to do anything that doesn't want to do," Santana reassures Brittany, "All he needs is a push in the right direction."

"And how are we going to do that? We don't really know Mercedes. At least not anymore, and it sounds like Sam isn't trying to pursue anything."

Santana smirks and rubs her friend's shoulders. "That's why we going to infiltrate Sam's job and make his coworkers do the work for us."

Brittany gives Santana a half-smile before eating more Dots.

Things are definitely going to get interesting.

**So it's almost one thirty right now and I am tired as hell because I can't stay up for my life- for a college student, this is tragic- and therefore if there are any mistakes I am sorry. **

**I don't know when I will be able to update again but it will be soon. Mercedes and the others will be introduced in the next chapter, of course I don't know how but I will figure it out :D**

**I hoped you all liked it. Feedback will be nice :D :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Just to let everyone, especially those copy writers and lawyers, know that I do not, under any circumstances, own Glee. If I did, I would not have to take out loans for school, I would have a real, functioning laptop and Samcedes would have a permanent residence in that show.**

**_Wednesday_**

Tina should have known that from the moment Santana requested to meet up with her, she was going to be in for one hell of a ride.

She should have said no.

She really should have declined and said that she had an article to write-up by tomorrow morning but, as usual, her curiosity got the best of her.

And that is why she is currently sitting between Brittany and Santana in one of her favorite cafes.

"Not that I mind seeing you two, but why did you want to me this early in the morning?"

Luckily for her, Figgins insisted that she came to work in the afternoon thanks to her waterworks display during a team meeting. It wasn't her fault; she didn't like when people slam down any of her potential ideas for an article, especially those damn interns who did not know how to be a writer for their lives.

Tina notices the looks Santana and Brittany are giving each other. She lets out a deep breath and reminds herself that the only reason why she is here is because Santana has offered to buy her meal. That's all. She is not going to get involved in anything that has the potential to make her uncomfortable.

Brittany is the first to speak, "First of all, I will like to thank you for coming here; I know it's early and all and I don't like waking at this time either." She gives Santana an accusing look which is returned by Santana's eyes rolling. "But we need your help."

Tina groans.

She knew it. She just knew it.

Santana is going to drag her into yet another scheme that is going to get her into trouble. The last time she had to help Santana and Brittany out, she was stuck in a gay bar with a transgender man who insisted she was (his or her) wife for eight hours.

"My help for what?" Tina asks cautiously. "And can it be legal this time and not involving a gay bar."

"Now hold up," Santana protests. The gay bar incident was not her fault. She warned Tina about what she was getting herself into. "I had nothing to do with that. How was I supposed to know that the man was actually a woman and you should thank me, I saved you from getting arrested thanks to that little stunt you pulled."

Brittany laughs.

Tina glares at the bar owner. Santana promised not to talk about that incident. Ever. "I was not in the right mindset, thank you very much. Anyway, what are you guys up to now?"

"You know Sam, right?" Brittany asks. She has only known Tina for about a month. Santana introduced her to Tina while in yoga class.

"Of course I do. He was in my wedding," Tina says. "And I work with him."

Santana smirks. And that is why she needs Tina to be a apart of Operation: Samcedes- she still thinks the name was a bit... dumb, but Brittany refuses to change it. "Great, well, I have a little proposition for you: Sam needs a girlfriend and we are going to get him one."

"You want to hook Sam up with someone?"

"Not just someone," Brittany answers with a bright smile. She simply loves doing this. "But the one and only Mercedes Jones."

Tina's mouth drops. Yes, she knows that Santana's plans are generally crazy but she's not expecting something like this. "You're joking."

"This isn't something to joke about," Brittany replies, almost offended that Tina would question her about Operation: Samcedes. She is dead serious about this stuff. She firmly believes that everyone deserves a special person, even Sam.

Santana only rolls her eyes.

"Um... one problem," Tina says, still not believing what she's heard. "Mercedes has a boyfriend. A very serious boyfriend. A boyfriend that she may be engaged to, but hasn't verified the rumors yet."

"I am quite aware of that."

"And you still want to go through with this?"

Santana leans forward, with a serious look on her face. "Yes we do. I promised Sam that I was going to make him happy and if that means I have to break up Mercedes and her football-playing boyfriend, I will."

"His name is Shane," Tina mumbles.

Brittany sends Santana a wary glance. She is serious about this too, but she does not want to break up a happy couple. "That may be a bit extreme," she says to Santana. She turns her attention to a slightly horrified Tina. "We are not going to break up Mercedes and Shane. That can only happen by itself."

Tina sighs. She has never thought about Sam and Mercedes getting together. Sure, Sam acted like a nervous punk in front of Mercedes during the few times he talked to her. She thought it was because he was just shy- just like how she was when she was younger. "But why Mercedes? Why can't you pick a woman who isn't in a committed relationship?"

"Because Sam is in love with her," Brittany states as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. She ignores the groans from Santana and shrugs. "And hopefully, Mercedes feels the same way too."

Santana did not plan to tell Tina about the whole "Sam is in love with Mercedes" thing until later.

_Much_ later.

Before Tina can open her mouth and ask how on Earth do the women know that, Santana explains the situation further, "They used to date in college. Of course Sam does not think they dated because he didn't refer to her as his girlfriend. But I say, fuck the labels. They were five seconds away from getting married."

Tina's jaw drops again. Okay, she is friends with Mercedes and she certainly has not mentioned she used to be in a relationship with Sam Evans. She thought she dated Shane since...ever. She is almost certain that Mercedes loves Shane even though Tina believes that they do not make a good couple. Not that she has said that to Mercedes because that just wouldn't be nice. She doesn't know- there is something about that relationship that is just not right.

But her and Sam? She's worked with the both for them for a few years and let's just say, that thought has _never_ crossed her mind. They don't even talk to each other.

"Oh, it was like that..." she says, taking a long sip of her coffee. "So you want to get them back together?"

"And married," Brittany says, clapping her hands.

"You guys aren't playing..."

Santana rolls her eyes yet again- she may have an obsession with doing such action. She has the tendency to so some every other minute, but in her defense, it's not her fault. "Like hell we are. Let's cut to the chase: are you in or are you out? Because this operation needs to be in effect as soon as possible."

Unlike Santana, Brittany prefers to ask someone kindly for things. She believes it makes people feel better about the decision they are about to make. She does not want Tina to think that Santana would throw something at her if she says no. "Please join Operation: Samcedes, Tina. It would mean the world to us. It will make Sam and Mercedes very happy, they just don't know that yet."

"Operation: Samcedes?"

"The name is subject to change."

Tina sighs. She is conflicted. Mercedes is one of her good friends, best friend even, and friends should not do things behind friend's back. She really should not help Santana and Brittany even though she thinks it's cute they are banding together for the sake of another' person's love life.

Oh god, Brittany is giving her the puppy dog look.

She guesses she can offer them some of assistance.

But only a little.

The last thing she needs is for Mercedes to find out.

"Okay fine, I'll join your match making plans." Tina gulps as Brittany squeals and gives her a bone-crushing hug. It takes her five attempts to get the dancer off her. "But if we are going to do this, we need to be secretive about it. Mercedes will shoot me if she finds out that I'm trying to get her with someone who isn't Shane Tinsley."

"I definitely agree," Santana replies very glad that Tina is now on the team. "But you are going to have to do some work since you do work with Sam and Mercedes. Brittany and I can't help you with that." Tina nods before Santana continues, "We'll discuss more of the scheme at a later date but for now, try to make Mercedes and Sam have a decent conversation. Oh and make them notice each other."

If Tina is to be honest, dealing with reporters and prima donna editors is a lot easier than getting Sam to talk to Mercedes.

She may have to ask Mike for help.

"It will get done," Tina mumbles then smirks. "Actually, I have an even better plan. Two weeks from now, the magazine will be having an employee bonding seminar. Figgins wants all of us to get to know each other better so we have to take part in team building exercises for the entire week. Well, we just happen to need a venue for our last night; it's going to be like a little dinner party. So, why don't we have the party at Santana's Bar? It's the perfect way to have Sam and Mercedes and us at the same place without looking suspicious."

"You are a fucking genius."

Brittany looks confused and worried. She doesn't think a bar was the type of place to have a romantic chat between Sam and Mercedes. She prefers a fancy restaurant. "Do you think it will work? This is a bar."

Santana sighs. Brittany just doesn't know. "Honey, alcohol works wonders in situations like these." she gives Tina a sly smile. "I knew I wanted you in this for a reason. I'll give you guys a discount on drinks if you have your party at my bar."

Tina leans back in her seat. "Well lucky for you, I'm in charged with the team building week planning. So consider it done."

If Brittany wasn't the love of her life, Santana would have kissed Tina right then and there.

* * *

**_Thursday_**

Sam momentarily forgets how to breathe when he notices her stepping out of the elevator and walking into the office. He tries to fight back a blush. He has seen Mercedes in tight dresses many times before, but damn, she looks sexy. Sam knows he should not think about another man's girlfriend- maybe fiancé- in that way but-

He wonders if she's ever noticed him staring. He hopes she hasn't because that would only add more to the awkwardness that is their relationship. He cannot help himself, and trust him, he's tried. It's not his fault that his imagination goes wild when he sees Mercedes. He personally knows what is underneath that dress and at times was jealous that Shane is the only one who can see it now.

Sam never thought in a million years that he would be working at the same place as Mercedes. He thought Mercedes was going to move to Los Angeles to fulfill her dream as a singer- which wasn't a farfetched dream, that woman knew how to sing. He was not expecting her to be a fashion editor and writer- her job title changed from week to week, who knew why. Actually, the job wasn't a surprise. She always had a good sense of style although Sam didn't know much about the fashion world.

He was stunned when he saw Mercedes walk inside the office doors for the first time three years ago. He didn't know that Figgins wanted to have two fashion editors instead of the usual one. He thought Kurt, who was also in charge of the fashion division, was going to interview her for a story.

Boy was he wrong.

He hoped that Mercedes had a memory relapse and completely forgot that he existed but like all things that happened it didn't go as planned. That was truly the most bizarre, emotionally draining day on the job: it was like finding out your ex worked at your job, just right after breaking up.

But it was all good. Sam did talk to her unless it was a cordial greeting and she did the same. He was happy for her when he found out that she was dating Shane Tinsley, the linebacker for the New York City professional football team. She seemed pleased enough and he was not in the position to mess up something he could never have: a real relationship.

Three years has passed and everything is still the same. Sam wouldn't have had it any other way.

No matter what Santana says.

Sam notices the amused, knowing looks the copy editor who just also happens to be his best friend's wife, Tina, sends him. She is leaning back in her chair, arms behind her head with that unnerving smile that only rivals Santana's. He is confused as hell when she raises her coffee mug and salutes.

"Mike, what's up with your wife?"

Mike, who is currently watching YouTube dance videos- something he definitely should not be doing, turns around and sees the looks his wife is giving his best friend. He raises an eyebrow, catching Tina's attention, and shakes his head when his wife gives him a large, and quite suspicious, smile.

She is up to something.

"Don't mind, Tina. She's probably bored like the rest of us and trying to find ways to occupy her time which includes staring at you."

Sam glares at Mike and responds sarcastically, "Thank you, Mike, for your help."

"Got your back, man," Mike says before minimizing his web browser. He can sense Figgins leaving the office. "You better look like you're doing something productive. Principal Figgins, at one o'clock."

Sam quickly exits out of his Star Wars game- what? It's entertaining and free- and takes out a bunch of papers he is supposed to have given the sports editor, Shannon Beiste, yesterday. He feels like he is at school again, trying to look like he is doing something when he really isn't.

* * *

Tina, perfectly aware that she may have scared her husband's best friend to death, pushes back her chair and rushes to Mercedes. She noticed that _god damn _expression Sam had when her friend came off the elevators; and she cannot wait to fully exploit that- crap, she's turning into Santana. She smiles when she approaches Mercedes.

"Looking good. Beautiful, looking good."

Mercedes laughs as Tina continues to check her out. She's wearing a little black dress that hugged _all_ of her curves. She has her hair up in a bun, minimal jewelry and flip flops- she did have heels on earlier but there were not the type of shoes to walk around in all day.

Mercedes puts her hands on her hips and says in a playfully accusing voice, "Are you hitting on me, Tina? Because, you know, you are my good friend, but I'm not into women like that."

"Hey if I wasn't married..." Tina laughs. "Let's just say that Shane is one lucky man. So what's the occasion?" She asks, as she walks with Mercedes her desk. She needs to find a way to make Mercedes notice that Sam was eye fucking the hell out of her without her freaking out. Now that she is thinking about it, it is too soon. She has to find out if Mercedes likes Sam to let that happen.

"By the way, I'm loving the dress."

"I'm going to this benefit dinner for my mom's church after work. Don't ask me why I am going." She leans in and whispers so that no one can hear her, "I think she's trying to set me up with someone. Apparently one of her church girlfriend is shopping her son around. And you know how my mom is about trying to find me someone to settle down with."

"Shut up," Tina gasps. Seriously, Mercedes' mom needs to join in with Operation: Samcedes. Every time she turns around Mrs. Jones is trying to get Mercedes married off to someone. Doesn't she know her daughter has a boyfriend? Tina shakes her head. "What about Shane?'

Mercedes rolls her eyes then dejectedly sighs.

Tina gulps. Yes, something must have occurred for Mercedes to look like this. She locks arms with Mercedes and continues walking to her desk. "Girl, tell me what happened."

"Groupies happened."

Bingo!

Santana is going to love her for this.

Tina stops walking and gives her friend a sympathetic look. She reaches out, hugs Mercedes and cries, without getting too much attention of course, "Oh my god, 'Cedes. I'm so sorry."

"I don't need a pity party," Mercedes slightly snaps, getting out of Tina's grasp. She stops to look at the daily bulletin. She completely forgot that she had to hand in her story tomorrow. Hopefully, Figgins was generous to push back the due date. From the way the bulletin looks, it isn't likely. Just her luck. "Shane called me this morning and apologized for a good twenty minutes. He said that he was too caught up in the pro football life style."

Tina does not like where this is going. Mercedes better not become one of those women who keeps on taking back cheating men. No, no, no, she's not going to have it. She may have to get Santana- or better yet Sam, which would be very, _very_ interesting- on Shane if she has too. Hopefully, for Shane's sake, she won't have to resort to that.

"So, it _is_ over between you two, yes?'

Mercedes does not say anything as she goes to her desk with Tina quickly following behind. Tina refuses to let Mercedes sit down. "You _did_ break up with him."

Her friend sighs again and puts her bag on her desk. "No. I didn't"

"What? Why? The bastard cheated on you."

"It was only one time... and he's not a bastard."

Tina wants to scream.

"One time too many."

"You don't need to tell me this," Mercedes says; she is becoming irritated though she doesn't know why. Tina is only trying to be a good friend and yeah... she may have a point, something Mercedes is too stubborn to admit. "Shane and I have been together for almost five years. We all make mistakes and Shane made one."

"A very, very big one," Tina counters. "Mercedes, you need to dump him, like right now."

Mercedes, ignoring Tina, curses as she dropped her cookie and bends down to pick up the pieces with Tina help. She needs to get rid of her sugar addiction; every single time she has something sweet it would drop or get destroyed before she can even finished it. She is convinced that it is a sign.

* * *

"_Dude..."_

Sam is in a daze as Mercedes turns around and bends down to pick something up. His eyes become wide, his mouth a little slack and he's pretty sure he's drooling- if one would ask, he will deny everything until the day he dies- and titles his head to the side, absolutely mesmerized by the-

"_Dude..."_

And of course someone has to be calling him at a glorious time like this.

Sam is forced to turn away from the wonderful sight that is Mercedes' backside to his best friend, who, by the way, specializes in interrupting him at the worst possible moments. He frowns and asks, quite annoyed, "What?"

Mike fails to fight back a chuckle. "You know, if you stare at her long enough, she may turn around and notice."

"I wasn't staring at her."

"Yeah, and I've been doing my work since I got here."

Sam narrows his eyes- he hates the fact the Mike knows when he is lying. He doesn't even know why he's friend with the man who takes joy in teasing him. Friends do not tease friends, at least not like that. So what if he made him a groomsman for his wedding? He clears his throat. "Why do you do this every time?"

"I should be asking you the same question," Mike replies. He slowly opens a can of soda- so he won't make a lot of noise- and takes a sip. "Seriously man, what is up between you two? You guys have been playing eye- contact Ping-Pong for the last three years."

"That isn't true."

Okay, maybe it is.

But there is nothing going on between them. That ship has sailed a long time ago.

It wasn't like they were dating . Their relationship was pretty simple: They were only involved in a strictly physical manner. None of that emotional stuff, that made things complicated. Their sessions would stop when there was a boyfriend or a girlfriend involved- Sam, who was cheated on a few times in high school, was not going to be the other man.

It was a pretty good idea at the time. They were both young people who had raging hormones. Instead of completely slutting out and releasing their frustration on random people, they, actually Mercedes, decided to choose the more noble route and only sleep with each other. The plan was to only do this during freshman year in college but it ended up lasting until the end of senior year, right before graduation. When Sam made the biggest mistake of his adult life.

But this is not the time to dwell on past failures especially when the cause of said failure is currently talking to his best friend's wife.

Of course Mike finds the whole situation absolutely hilarious. Sam is so oblivious- and/or in denial- that Mike is tempted to intervene and make Sam see the light for himself. Maybe he should ask Tina to help him; she seems to enjoy being in other people's business.

**I want to thank you for the reviews etc. You all are amazing! I won't be able to update for another two weeks because I'm finally going on vacation. Tell me what you think. I hope you all enjoyed it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or anything that has to do with that show. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about evil school loans, crappy laptops and my otps/ships being destroyed. **

**So I finally watched season three of Glee and it's so heartbreaking and annoying that I want to cry. I mean, no more Samcedes? Like seriously. And then I have found out that Klaine may not be Klaine in season 4 anymore and I'm like... what the actual fuck? I mean, what's next? No more Brittana or Tike? I pray that this won't happen on Glee and the writers change their minds because I will be absolutely devastated.**

**Sorry for the mini rant. :D**

**Now on to Chapter Four**

**_Friday_**

For a smart woman, Mercedes Jones has the tendency to act dumb at the wrong times.

Exhibit A:

"Shane is not going to cheat on me again. He called me last night and told me how much he loved me and how weak he was for betraying our relationship. He is going to take me out some place nice tonight. Shane's going to change; I promise you."

Tina is not impressed.

She hasn't been impressed from the moment she found out that her friend was being played.

"Why would you want to be with someone who admits that he is weak?"

Mercedes glares at her friend; that isn't the point. She does not answer Tina's question. Instead, she takes out a bag of chips- salt and vinegar, her favorite- out of her drawer and begins eating it. Sure, it is salty and that is the last thing she needs for her blood pressure, but she is in constant stress mode. Her health can be put on the back burner for a little longer.

She had a long day. She wrote and edited three stories in two hours. She had a ninety-minute meeting with Kurt to discuss what fashion designers they should cover during New York Fashion Week. She did not have much sleep- only four hours. Her mother would not stop bothering her about settling down- seriously, why wouldn't she just shut up about this?

The church function/match making date her mother had forced her to attend was nothing short of a disaster. Her mother had failed to mention to her that her church friend's son was a janitor and an aspiring rapper- there was nothing wrong with that. If Mercedes could do it again, she would pursue her dream of being a singer too. But the problem was he could not rap for his life. And he would not stop talking about how she should be honored to be talking to him and how he was going to blow up in the music business and get all of these women- bitches were his exact words, and be ballin' with his Beamer, Benz and Bentley and whatnot.

Mercedes was tempted to rain on his parade in the harshest way possible but then she realized that it wouldn't be proper to do so in the house of God.

Needless to say, her mother's church girlfriend's son was not her type.

Tina frowns and shakes her head. Mercedes is doing it again- it being eating not to feed her hunger but to eat away her emotional pain. "Why are you eating those? I thought you were on a no-salt-no-sweets diet?"

"It's called me being hungry."

"No, 'Cedes, it's called emotional eating. If you're hungry eat a piece of fruit," Tina says as she takes her friend's bag of chips away. "Emotional eating is triggered by stressed, worried or being upset about something- or in your case, all three."

Mercedes grabs her precious chips back inciting a groan from her friend. Yeah, she should be watching her salt, but that's her business. And she isn't that stressed, at least not stressed about her relationship with Shane. Working for a magazine company is hard and tiring. "Tina, I'm fine. And for the last time, Shane apologized and promised that he would remain faithful. Please, can you drop the Shane topic? It's getting redundant."

"It's only redundant because you're not thinking straight," Tina protests. She is starting to become frustrated at Mercedes' foolishness and stubbornness. Mercedes is intelligent in all areas except dating- like Sam. Oh my, no wonder Santana thought they were both perfect for each other; they're both clueless. "What makes you think he won't do it again?"

"Because I trust him."

Tina wants to pull her hair out.

Come to find out, Shane had cheated on Mercedes with more than one woman. The bombshell was dropped last night when he told Mercedes the truth. Mercedes appreciated his honestly and commitment to be faithful for her. Tina thought that Mercedes should have left his unfaithful ass right at that moment. Of course unfortunately, Mercedes did not feel the same way.

Tina needs to knock some serious sense into Mercedes before she loses her mind.

"Mercedes, I don't understand why you can't comprehend this: Shane cheated on you. Not once. Not twice. Not even three times but seven. Seven!"

Mercedes groans. She does not need to be reminded of this right now.

There must be another reason Mercedes is holding so tightly to this sham of a relationship. There must be. Tina leans back in her chair, crossing her arms, with a mean suspicious look. "Does this have to do with the fact that Shane is a pro football player. Is it that money?"

She does not have to go there but then again, she does.

Mercedes looks like she is about to slap Tina. How dare Tina, her good friend, suggests that she, Mercedes, Miss Independent, is staying with Shane for the money and fame? She may be many things, but a gold digger, she most certainly is not. "Just what type of person do you think I am?"

"I'm trying to figure that out. Because the Mercedes I know would not let this cheating thing go."

If Mercedes is to be honest, and like Sam, she almost never is with herself, Tina is right. She shouldn't be going through this. She does not deserve to be treated as a side piece after all of the time and energy she has put into her relationship with Shane. But she loves Shane and she is sure- fifty percent sure to be more exact- that he loves her too. Maybe she fears being alone. She has been with Shane for practically five years now; it would be lonely not have a boyfriend after all of that time.

But Mercedes is stubborn and because of this, she is not going to let Tina know that she is right about pretty much everything. And Mercedes is not with Shane for the money or whatever. She has her own money. "For your information, Tina, I'm a strong, independent-"

"Soon to be single."

Mercedes cuts Tina a glare. Tina needs to get over the fact that she isn't leaving Shane, not matter how foolish she sounds. "Black woman."

"That's all fine and good," Tina says, knowing that she is testing Mercedes' patience but her friend need to hear what she has to say. "But can you act like it? Dump loser and find someone else." She rises from her seat. "Please? For my sake, at least. And for yours because I will be bothering you about this until you're available to mingle with other men again."

Tina's plan is simple. Tina has to convince Mercedes to dump Shane. Although she may think that Sam and Mercedes are perfect for each other and such, she, by no means, condoned cheating. Even if it is on someone who was cheating on her friend.

First things first, she is going to recruit as many people for Operation: Samcedes as she possibly can- without Sam and Mercedes finding out. And then let things fall into place. It is not going to be easy, especially when the party involved is stubborn beyond belief.

She can convince her husband to join her later on. But now, she has her sights on the one person who can make her mission a tad bit easier: Mercedes' partner, Kurt Hummel.

Kurt Hummel and Mercedes are literally attached to hip when it comes to work. They work together as the two fashion editors of the magazine but they specialize in different aspects of fashion. If Tina has to pick the most important people who would contribute to the success of Operation: Samcedes, it has to be him. Kurt works with Mercedes most of the time and therefore knows significantly more about her personal life than anyone else.

Kurt does not notice Tina approaching him with a predatory look on her face. He is too busy skimming through a look book of one of his favorite fashion designers, drinking a latte from his favorite coffee shop and keeping an eye out for some interns who are staring quite intently at some boxes of freshly made cupcakes that are for Sugar and certainly not college students who seem to not have the ability to contain themselves when being near baked goods.

He jumps up, shocked and puzzled, when he sees Tina pulling out a chair and sitting down. He doesn't have time to say anything before Tina speaks up, "Kurt, I need your help."

"And hello to you too, my dear."

Tina apologizes for her rudeness. She is not always like this but there is no time for stalling at this moment. "Sorry. Hello. How are you? You're good. That's terrific. I am in a middle of an emergency. I need your help and I won't take no for an answer."

"What do you need help with? And please don't tell me you want to borrow any more of the designer clothes. Figgins will be pissed beyond belief if he finds out that the clothes for the cover models are still in your closet."

Tina nervously giggles. Oh yeah, she forgot about those clothes. "Don't get your panties in a bunch; they're right in my house. I'll give it to you tomorrow. But on to more pressing matters: I need you to help me get Sam and Mercedes back together."

Kurt stops drinking his prized latte and scoffs, putting the look book down. This is not the type of help he is expecting. "This is an interesting development. Sam and Mercedes back together? Doesn't Mercedes have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but not for long," Tina chimes, smirking at Kurt's curious and horrified expression. She contemplates whether she should tell Kurt what happened. It would definitely betray her friend's trust, then again, Kurt is going to find out anyway. "She's involved in an unwanted poly-amorous relationship, if you know what I mean."

Kurt gasps. This is why he likes Tina. She always has the scoop on the latest gossip, though he is quite sad that Mercedes has not told him about this yet. She always talked to him about her Shane problems. "She's the other woman?"

"No, the other women are the other woman. He cheated on her seven times and I'm pretty sure there are more women involved," she replies, shaking her head with Kurt. "Of course Mercedes is not going to leave him. Well, no, I take that back. She will; she just doesn't know it yet."

"But why Sam? I have only seen them say three words to each other."

"Because they technically broke up a few years ago," Tina responds, glancing at Sam who was staring at Mercedes like a love sick puppy. She does not know how Mike could deal with him. He is practically oozing desperation to get with Mercedes. "That's why they are so awkward around each other. Please, Kurt, help me. I'm tired of Mercedes having bad experiences with relationships."

"And getting her back with someone who was involved in said bad experience is a good idea, how?"

Tina grumbles. This is not the time for Kurt to act sassy with her. "You don't get it: they broke up because of lack of communication. Sam was too chicken to tell Cedes how he felt and Cedes...well, she thought she liked linebackers more. Look, the point is this: they belong with each other. They need each other and we are going to make this happen."

Kurt does not know if that is true but Tina seems to be really sincere about it. He guesses he can help out. He wants Mercedes to be happy and it will definitely occupy the abnormal amount of free times he has been getting recently. "What do you want me to do?"

"Kurt, your job is to get our two love birds to have a real conversation. I don't want hellos and goodbyes. This needs to last at least five minutes and no, long awkward pauses do not count."

"Do I get a reward for this?" Kurt asks, ignoring the mean look his co-worker was sending. "Because no offense, finding world peace is a hell of a lot easier than getting them two to interact with each other."

"I'll see what I can do," Tina responds, before walking away not noticed her husband looking around the office. She nearly shrieks when Mike takes her arm and rushes into the side stairwell. Hopefully, he does not look that suspicious when Tina, in a low voice, chides at him for catching her by surprise. Mike does not care though; Tina is running around the office, talking to people, looking like she creating yet another scheme and/or spreading gossip.

He stops at the bottom of the staircase and asks his annoyed wife, "Okay Tina, what the hell is going on?"

Tina gives her husband an innocent look. She was sure Mike has not discovered what she's doing, right? Tina smiles. "Whatever do you mean?"

Mike shakes his head. Tina only acts dumb when she either gets caught or up to no good. He has a feeling that it's both. She has that evil look in her eyes. "Tina, remember what the pre-marriage counselor said; we have to trust each other and tell each other things to make this marriage work."

Tina rolls her eyes. Mike didn't even like the counselor; he claimed going to him as a waste of time and money. So why is he quoting him, she will never understand. "You're only saying to guilt-trip me into telling you everything."

"Is it working?"

Tina lets out a dramatic sigh. She supposes she can tell Mike about Operation: Samcedes since he and Sam are like brothers. Actually, that would not be a bad idea. She smiles. "You know Santana, right?"

Oh Mike knows Santana alright and he does not like where this is going. It's not that he does not like Santana. She is definitely entertaining, maybe a little bit too entertaining. But Sam adores her and vice versa- in a strictly platonic sense. He is convinced that Sam likes Mercedes a lot more and Santana prefers her own sex. "What about Santana?"

"Santana, being the wonderful friend she is, has taken upon herself to intervene in Sam's failing love life. Therefore, in order to make sure that Sam does not have to resort to one night stands and other women who may be borderline psychotic, she plans to play match maker and get Sam back together with Mercedes."

Mike blinks.

He knows Santana is crazy; that is an obvious fact, but he does not expect her to do something like this. And since when she cares about other people's personal life? And why Mercedes and Sam, for all people? And why is his wife involved? And he does he have this sickening feeling that Tina is going to drag him into this, like she always does?

"Santana, as in _Santana_, is going to be a match maker and wants to hook Sam and Mercedes… back together?" Mike asks, still in shocked. And what is this about getting back together? As far as he knows, Sam and Mercedes never dated. He just knows Sam likes Mercedes. Unless Sam is hiding something from him and- wait, this would explain a lot.

"I know this sounds a bit... odd, but she's really adamant about this, and if Mercedes and Sam really like each other then it is our duty as their friends to make sure they get together."

So maybe Tina has a point.

"Sam's going to kill if me if he finds out."

"Well, Mercedes will too." Tina grabs Mike's hand and lead him out of the stairwell. She does not want the others to think that they are engaging in certain activities in the stairwell... not that they have been caught doing such _things in the past._ "If I'm not mistaken... wasn't death do us part a portion of our vows?"

"Very funny."

While Tina and Mike attempt to return to their seats without catching the attention of their co-workers at the other side of the office, Kurt glances at his partner who is searching through some papers. He cannot believe that Shane would cheat on someone as amazing as Mercedes and not to mention-

Kurt sits up in his seat and evilly grins.

Oh he knows a way he can get Mercedes and Sam to talk.

He takes a story proposal meant for him and Mercedes off his desk, puts his latte down and goes in for the kill. He may not come back alive, but at least it would be for a good cause.

"Mercedes Jones, how are you this fine day?"

Mercedes looks up and narrows her eyes. Kurt is up to something; he always is when he uses her full name. She pushes aside an article she is reviewing- which should have been done hours ago- and asks, "Alright, what do you want?'

Kurt gives his partner a wide smile and sits at the end of her desk. "Well, it has come to my attention that there is some serious drama going on between various professional sports organizations and the new sportswear company that will be making new uniforms from now on. Of course this is a corporate move, but some sports fan are quite upset about having uniforms of their favorite sports teams change. There is a possibility that jersey will be charged fifteen percent more than the current jerseys."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Glad, you asked," Kurt replies. "Since you have more experience with dealing with companies a lot more than I ever will, I just think it will be fitting that you cover this story with the assistance of Sam Evans, who normally covers the sport stories."

Mercedes chokes on the chips in her mouth. She reaches for a sip of water before asking, quite taken back by what Kurt has proposed, "_Excuse me_?"

Kurt knows from the tone of her voice that Mercedes is not going to like this idea. He wishes he can find another way to carry out his task but it is so much easier force Mercedes and Sam to work together on a story. They will have no choice but to interact with each other. "You and Sam will be doing a story. Together."

"Oh, hell no!" Mercedes exclaims, rising from her seat and marching toward Figgins office, followed by Kurt. Like Hell is she going to work with Sam. She storms into the office, startling the editor-in-chief.

"Kurt, Mercedes, nice to see you two. What can I help you with?"

Kurt speaks up before Mercedes can think about unleashing Hell, "I have decided that it will be a wise idea for Sam and Mercedes to write the story about the uniform controversy. It was originally going to be me and Mercedes but I think that since Sam writes sports stories that they should write this one together."

Figgins glances between Kurt and a fuming Mercedes and shrugs. "Okay, sure. Mercedes and Sam will write the story. There is nothing wrong with that. This story should be interesting. It is a lot different from the usual ones about sports and fashion."

Mercedes groans.

Kurt, looking smug, nods his head and cannot agree more. He wisely chooses to ignore the pissed off look his partner is giving him. This reaction is only expected. "I agree Mr. Figgins. Many people do not write about this topic. It will be different, and what better person to write this story with Mercedes than Sam Evans."

Mercedes wishes she can strangle Kurt.

"But Sam Evans?" Mercedes questions, "Can I work with Kurt? Or at least Rory? Heck, I can even do this with Sugar. I have never worked with Sam and I would prefer if I am going to write this big article that it will be with someone I am comfortable... as in comfortable working with."

Kurt raises an eyebrow. This is interesting. Very interesting. Mercedes is flustered and nervous; she is actually nervous. Mercedes never got nervous; she was usually the one who took risks. And she will not be comfortable working with Sam? Sam is fine in more ways than one. Maybe Tina has a method to her madness after all.

Figgins, like Kurt, is puzzled about Mercedes throwing a fit about working with one of her co-workers "I don't understand the problem, Mercedes. You and Sam are both exceptional writers and I can see that working together will not be difficult. I have received no complaints from anyone, even the professional players, about his conduct. And I agree with Kurt; this will be a fine piece to put in our next issue."

Figgins is right. From a professional standpoint, there is nothing wrong with working with Sam. He seems to know what he is doing and is very likeable. But from a personal standpoint, working with Sam is going to be a disaster. There is a reason why she has avoided him for three years; she is in no mood to stir up old demons.

Mercedes gives up and accepts the proposal. She is going to kill Kurt for changing her status quo. She only worked with him; it has always been like that, ever since she got here. Why the hell would Kurt, all of a sudden, want her to work with someone else? Especially if that someone else has to be Sam motherfucking Evans.

She hates her life.

Kurt is going to pay for this.

"You better sleep with one eye open, Hummel," Mercedes growls before stomping out of the office, leaving both men speechless.

Kurt gulps and straightens his eye. Okay, so he is not expecting Mercedes to threaten him. He still does not understand what the big deal is. It is just Sam. Not some random ex boy-

He gasps.

Oh crap.

_That_ is what she is mad about.

"What is wrong with Mercedes? I have never seen her like this. Is she that distraught about working with Sam?" Figgins asks. He looks for Mercedes through his office window. He is honestly worried for her. He has never seen her fight about a story before and the way she looked at Kurt was downright scary.

Kurt innocently responds, "I have no idea."

Mercedes did not mean to make a fool out of herself in front of Kurt and her boss. She simply had a panic attack; that was all, nothing to fret over. She hopes and prays that Kurt and Figgins will forget everything that has happened.

This is not how she wants her day to turn out. Finding about Shane's extracurricular actives has been enough surprises for today and now she has to work with the last person she ever wants to work with- this even beat Quinn, and she has never thought she would say that.

She groans before eating a handful of chips.

She cannot believe Kurt would do something like that. She thought he knew about her and Sam- well, minus the whole they used to sleep together part. Why would be make her do something that she did not want to ever do? She thought he was her friend, her-

Hold up.

Why is she having a breakdown over something so trivial?

She is Mercedes Jones, damn it.

She has had to go through many obstacles to get to where she is today.

She has never had an issue with working with someone.

So why start now?

Mercedes throws away her chip bag. She gathers all of her papers together and rises from her seat. She can do this because she is Mercedes Jones and Mercedes Jones does not fear any interactions with another person, especially Sam Evans.

With a determined look, she marches up to Sam's desk, ignores curious glances from her co-workers- mainly Tina and Kurt- and with the best smile she can muster, ignoring Sam's looking of pure confusion, she places the proposal on his desk and says simply, "Hello, Sam. How's it going?"

Tina quickly returns to her desk before Figgins finds out that she has done everything but editing two stories. As far as she is concerned, her job is done... for the time being. She will give Santana and Brittany updates as soon as she gets off work. But then she sees something that can only occur in her dreams: Mercedes is walking to Sam's desk. She gives Kurt an alarmed look. Kurt gives her an alarmed look and they both immediately sit down to watch event unfold before them.

Tina cannot hide her excitement. She is worrying about this relationship more than her own work. She fears she is starting to become a fan girl. You know the ones who have "ships" and exclaim that they will "go down with their ship" and that their "ship will sail itself" among other things.

"Uh...hi?" Sam chokes out. This is bad. Real bad. He is not mentally prepared for this. "Uh... I'm fine. And you?"

It is safe to say that Sam is panic mode.

Mike, who is witnessing this sad exchange, shakes his head in shame. Sam definitely needs to have a lesson in talking to women he loves.

"I'm great. Thank you," Mercedes responds, frowning a bit. The Sam she remembers would never be like this with her- granted, that was back in college, but still. Shy and Sam isn't much of a combination. No matter, she had to break the news to him. "Due to certain circumstances that I have no control over, we will be working together for a story." She points at the proposal. "It's about the effect of sports teams changing uniforms and such. Figgins wants it in three weeks." She continues as she realizes that Sam looks like he is going into shock, "When are you free? So we can get this story done ASAP."

It takes Sam quite some time to realize what Mercedes has just said. And he when he finally does, he goes into internal hyperventilating mode. This is getting pathetic, he scolds to himself. He is over Mercedes. He should not be acting as if the most popular girl at school has agreed to go with him to the prom. He is grown man- all of this, _whatever_, is reserved for teenagers.

He replies when he gets himself back together, "Well, this was unexpected. I'm free after eight every night. What about tonight?"

Man, he has to remind himself that he is not asking Mercedes out for a date. It is a strictly professional conference because he is a professional and professionals do not think that meeting another professional at night counts as a date.

"Tonight at eight it is," Mercedes answers, with a slight smile. She, for a quick second, just remembers how handsome Sam is at close proximity. She takes a post-it from Sam's desk and writes down her number. "Call or text me when and where."

Sam is pretty sure he is about to have a heart attack right now.

Tina and Kurt, watching the whole Samcedes conversation in awe, cannot be any happier. Kurt is glad because he is an evil genius and Tina cannot believe this is actually happening.

"Am I a genius or am I a genius?"

"Kurt, I owe my life to you," Tina replies gratefully. "This is much better than having a five-minute conversation."

Tina takes out her phone as soon as Mercedes leaves Sam's desk and texts Santana. She has to know about this:

_I want you to be the first to know that the S.S Samcedes has officially sailed. I expect a fully paid trip to Tahiti and Bora Bora._

**I apologize for the lack of Brittany and Santana; they will be back next chapter as well as more Samcedes goodness. I wanted to update faster but I just moved into a new apartment and my only source for internet was from my phone. **

**Updates will be frequent but it may slow down once the semester starts at the end of August. But have no fear, this story will not be abandoned. **

**Thanks a bunch for the replies and such. I absolutely adored them and don't be shy to send some feedback and constructive criticism :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Glee or anything that is a apart of the show. If I did, every canon couple would stay canon forever and I would be super rich. I'm simply using the franchise for my own amusement. **

**This is the longest chapter yet :D The benefits of moving to a new place and not having internet is that I have nothing else to do than write super long new chapters- because I'm too lazy to do anything else. **

**_Tuesday_**

Santana's bar is bustling with people. It's a Tuesday night; everyone can get half off on drinks until midnight. Others bars do the discount for "Thristy Thursday" but the owner is Santana and Santana does things differently. She hires a DJ- as well as some extra bouncers- for the night because she knows this is going to be a late night filled with drunks and debauchery. She needs to keep her customers occupied. The DJ isn't expensive, thank goodness; he is the boyfriend- or plaything- of one of her rival-turned-friends, Lauren Zises, who just happens to owe her a big favor.

DJ Puck is popular in clubs and bars and especially with the ladies. He likes to flirt- a bit of an understatement. Like now, with one of the many scantily clad woman stumbling onto the mini dance floor. Santana is going to give him an earful if he keeps this up; his job is the play music, not get numbers from drunken women.

"I will never doubt your abilities again, for as long as I live!" Tina shouts over the loud music after rolling her eyes over DJ Puck's antics; why he thinks it's okay to blast "Get Low" at this time, she does not know. She gives one of her henchmen three free Martini's; her gift for the women's cooperation. "Mark my words."

Santana has called for an emergency meeting tonight. It's not the best time to have one since the bar is loud as hell and Puck, after realizing the mean look his girlfriend's friend gives him, pumps up the music volume. But she cannot wait until tomorrow. She is intrigued by Tina's message about S.S. Samcedes- she does not want to know where Tina has gotten that word from- and wants to hear updates about Tina's mission.

When Santana recruited Tina into Operation: Samcedes, she did not expect her to take it to this level. She expected the copy editor to just spy on Sam and Mercedes, get them to speak, organize the bonding week-thing at her bar and that was about it.

She, however, did not expect Tina to get a few her co-workers to become deeply involved in the mission in a such a short amount of time.

"I'll see to it that you don't," Tina says loudly, smiling. The three woman, Brittany is present as well, give cheers with their glasses. "Let's get down to business; it seems that phase one of Plan A is pretty much completed. We have more people working with us."

"How many more people will be a part of Operation: Samcedes?" Brittany asks before taking a sip of her Sex on a Beach- her brand new favorite drink. She brushes of some muscle head who is persistently asking her for a dance and her numbers and tilts her head to Santana who is giving him the mother of all death glares. The man gets the point and scurries away.

"As of right now, only two... but that's subject to change. Mercedes' partner is committed. Mike found out about Operation: Samcedes. Apparently, I looked too suspicious for his liking, whatever that means. He's on board too, by the way, but he's pretty wary about being involved," Tina says, taking a sip of her cherry Martini. She is so excited about the three free drinks, all different flavors. She normally gets Margaritas but she's decided to switch it up a bit. "He thinks that Sam is going to disown him as a 'bro' if he finds out he is butting his nose into his personal life."

Santana scoffs; people and their petty worries. "Tell him not to worry. He's going to be Sam's best man or at least, groomsman, if his little brother, Steve, attends, when Sam and Mercedes get married. It would all be worth it in the end."

Brittany nods in agreement.

"Give me some updates," Santana demands politely, giving a warning glare to two bartenders who have neglected some patrons just to swap saliva next to the bathroom; her employees get the point and rush back to work. She will deal with those two later on.

Tina dances in her seat. "Well, thanks to my amazing skills, I have convinced Mercedes' partner to join Operation: Samcedes. His name is Kurt Hummel and he is a godsend," she continues as Santana and Brittany exchange smirks, "He, being the brilliant man he is, gave up his part of a joint story he was going to do with Mercedes last Friday, to the one and only Sam Evans. So, Sam and Mercedes have no choice but to work with each other."

"Oh my god..." Brittany breathes out, bringing her hand to her mouth.

"You're kidding," Santana responds, not believing her luck. Wow, this is a better plan than what she and Brittany have thought of- their plan consists of Santana's Bar, Sam, Mercedes, and the closet near the men's bathroom with the unbelievably heavy door.

"Nope," Tina simply replies, quite proud and herself and Kurt, too, who really should have been at this meeting. She will give Santana his number later. "And there is nothing our two lovebirds can do about it. Figgins has already approved the idea, and they have to get the story in for the next issue."

"How did they react?" Brittany inquires. She hopes that Samcedes is happy about the story, but a part of her knows that it is most likely not the case.

"Not well," Tina answers with some sadness in her voice. She does not know why she feels down; she did not expect her two coworkers to jump up and down with glee after hearing the news. "Mercedes was glaring daggers Kurt; I'm pretty sure she threatened him too. And Sam, he looked he was on a brink of shock-causing asphyxiation. But it's all good."

Brittany's expression is of pure bewilderment. She scrunches up her nose. "Asphy- what?"

"Asphyxiation. It's like death," Santana explains then frowns. It is definitely not the reactions she wants but like Tina said, it is all good. "I need to meet this Kurt person," Santana requests. She has a feeling that she is going to have some good conversations with the mastermind behind phase two of the operation. Maybe buy him a few drinks because hey, who doesn't want to have free drinks? Especially from Santana's Bar because that place makes the best Margaritas in town.

Tina giggles. She could love to be present when Santana and Kurt meet; it will be a contest between who can be the most diva and end with them becoming good friends. She gives Santana Kurt's number. "That could definitely be arranged. Oh, and to make things even better, they are going to meet up _tonight_ to discuss this glorious story _alone._"

Brittany claps.

Santana jerks back in her stool, almost falling off. She bits back in her original position, quite stunned to say the least. It seems that Tina may be her new partner-in-crime, after Brittany of course. "Sam and Mercedes are meeting up, tonight? When and where?"

Tina shrugs and twirls her Lime Martini with a straw. "I don't know. Mike is going to tell me as soon as he finds out. He's at Sam's place as we speak."

"This may be easier than we anticipated," Santana says, with a nod of approval. "All they have to do is talk for a bit, realize their attraction to each other and become a couple."

Santana and Brittany give each other high-fives.

Tina wishes it is that easy.

"But there's one problem," Tina announces, not wanting to ruin the happy moment but has to, for the operation's sake. "Mercedes still refuses to let Shane go. And what's even worse is that he cheated her on multiple times and she believes that he had lost his way at the time and will be faithful for now on."

Brittany has a look of disgust. "But- why? Who does that?"

"I know," Tina solemnly replies.

Santana growls. Usually, cheating on someone is a sure way to have a relationship end. She does not think Mercedes is the type of woman who would continue to date a cheater. There must be more to this than Mercedes is letting on. She shrugs and takes a wig of her Pina Colada. No biggie. Nothing is too challenging for Santana Lopez. "We just have to give her some time to realize that she is making a big mistake. No need to worry."

"She has no plans to leave him," Tina insists, shaking her head, trying to make her point very clear. Mercedes is being unusually irrational. Why does she thinks that staying with a cheater is okay, is beyond her. "Trust me, I've been grilling her about this for the past two days."

Santana sighs and angrily takes a bite of her pizza. "Great, now we are dealing with dumb and dumber," she grumbles. Why couldn't Sam and Mercedes make things easier? She is trying to help them out, damn it. This match making thing should not be this hard.

"We need her to see the light," Brittany says, determined as ever. "We need her to leave Shane and realize that she belongs with Sam."

Tina does not mention that Brittany is stating the obvious. "Yeah, we're working on that," she mumbles before downing the last of her Lime Martini. She instantly moves to the apple one. "Mercedes need a damn epiphany or something."

Santana is not going to let Mercedes' stupid stubbornness get in the way to her goal. She will deal with the boyfriend-thing later. "We'll deal with that relationship later, but first things first," she says, wanting to shift the attention to something more essential. "We need to find out what the hell happened that led to Sam and Mercedes' unofficial break up. By doing so, we can find a way to make them put aside their differences and move on."

"But how are we going to get that information?" Brittany asks, putting her pointer fingers together. She pouts before continuing, "Sam won't talk about it and from what I've heard, Mercedes' keeping her mouth closed too."

Tina and Santana nod in agreement.

"I know! Get them drunk. Or at least tipsy," Tina suggests, receiving a proud smirk from Santana. "The best secrets are told when the mind isn't in its normal state."

"You want to get them drunk?" Brittany questions simply appalled. She likes things to get done the honest way. Getting two people drunk just to hear their dirty laundry is nowhere near honest. And she does not want to be present when this alcohol plan backfires.

Tina shrugs. It's only just a suggestion.

"But before we can get them wasted and Mercedes' single, we have to make them tolerate one another while sober."

"I don't think this is a good idea..."

Santana ponders for a bit. That wouldn't be a bad idea, though she prefers to have Sam and Mercedes make up while they are in a sober state. "This can work," she says, slowly nodding. "Make them loosen up. How do you think most one night stands happen?"

Brittany gasps. "You want them to hook up? Wouldn't that make things worse?"

"She has a point," Tina agrees, derailing her alcohol plan. She hasn't thought that one through. "If they become intimate because of the influence of alcohol, it will certainly make things even more awkward between them, if that is possible. Can you imagine the morning after?"

Brittany shudders.

"Okay," Santana decides. "Alcohol will be our last resort. Hopefully, this meeting tonight will end well, or at least well enough."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Tina warns. "It's going to be the most uncomfortable thing to ever witness. They don't like being around each other, at all."

To be honest, Tina thinks the whole situation is a complete mess. Mercedes is acting blind and dumb when it comes to Shane and apparently, isn't too thrilled about working with Sam. Sam cannot have a normal conversation with Mercedes without his face turning into a shade of red and stuttering. She can't understand this; they used to _sleep_ together, for heaven's sake. Shouldn't they better a little bit more normal around each other?

"Well then," Santana says, not feeling anywhere near nervous about the mission as Tina is. If Sam and Mercedes want to act like they don't want to be near each other then she is just going to have to kick things up another notch. "We are just going to have to change that. But that's reserved for that party next Friday."

Brittany will feel sorry for Samcedes when that day comes.

"Don't want to be abrupt," Tina says, jumping down from the stool. She hates being vertically challenged; she wishes she could slide off the chair without worrying about falling on her face. "I have to go. Mercedes wants me to meet up with her before her _date._"

Brittany and Santana say their goodbyes and watch Tina pushing through the exit.

The bar owner curses when Puck changes to an even obscene song. The crowd goes crazy and rushes to the floor in front of the DJ booth. Santana is going to kill him. She has told him about ten times that the real party does not start until ten at night, not six.

* * *

Tina meets Mercedes in her apartment at the other side of town. To tell you the truth, she does not see any point on coming to Mercedes' just to watch her friend get ready for the meeting- unofficial date- with Sam. She doesn't think it's a big deal. They are just writing a story together, not getting married.

That will happen about a year or two from now, Tina concludes, and she will be a bridesmaid or better yet, a maid of honor.

Sitting on the bed, she looks up at Mercedes and sighs. "So, why am I here again?"

This is the fifth time she has asked this question. Tina does not want to sound mean, but she has some serious match making schemes to create with Santana and Brittany, and Mercedes is holding her up. Then again, she can't complain. At least she is with one half of the soon-to-be couple.

Mercedes takes off her shoes and put them in the shoebox. She has to protect her precious shoes. "You don't remember? I need to give you back your blender and that crock pot before I forget." She smiles at Tina. "Unless of course you want me to keep them forever, which I have no problem doing, by the way."

Tina raises an eyebrow. She has a blender? Oh right, she forgets about that. She lent Mercedes the blender her mother-in-law gave her- and she is grateful that Mercedes' reminded her about that because Mike has asked for it for a week. And that crock pot- she forgets that she even has one. This is what happens when she gives things away right after she gets up from bed.

Tina shrugs. She does not feel like carrying anything home right now. Mike will understand. "I'll get them next week. Too lazy to carry anything that can't fit in my purse."

"You're one crazy woman."

"Hey, Mike doesn't seem to mind," Tina replies suggestively with a wink, causing Mercedes to burst into laughter. "But enough about me. Where are you going exactly?" Mike still has not texted her, much to her annoyance, but it doesn't matter. He is doing enough by being at Sam's. "For that meeting with Sam?"

She is really trying hard not to blow her cover, but it's not easy. She wishes she can just shout out, "Make out with Sam already!" but that will not end well and Santana will no longer give her free Martini's and Margarita's.

Mercedes does not want to talk about damned meeting tonight. This is conspiracy, she is convinced. Why now? Why all of a sudden Kurt wants to work with someone else? She is going to get to the bottom of this horrible thing- just you watch.

"I cannot believe Kurt would do such a thing," Mercedes growls, taking off her t-shirt and throwing it on her bed. She rolls her eyes at Tina covering her eyes. "I'm wearing a bra. Full coverage. Don't worry, honey. You won't see anything."

Tina removes her hands and makes a sigh in relief. "Thank god, because that would be not cool. Not saying that you're not cool, but I'm not into seeing uncovered female chests. Heck, I don't even want to look at mine half the time." She sticks out her tongue as Mercedes shakes her head. "Don't tease me!" She pauses. "Tell me again why you're still mad at Kurt?"

Of course she knows the reason.

"There is this story," Mercedes begins, not even sure if she wants to relieve those horrible, horrible events of earlier today. She clinches her nice red blouse she plants to wear. Great; now she has to iron it again. "That Kurt and I are supposed to do together. It's about the drama between sports managements and some clothing company that is apparently making new uniforms no one wants- there's more the story but anyway... It was all fine and good until Kurt decided to drop a bomb on me Friday about how he wanted me to work with Sam on the story. I mean, he is serious? He just can't change things on me like that. I have to prepare myself, you know?"

No. Tina does not know. She reaches for the pair of earrings she thinks will look amazing on her friends and asks, slightly confused, "Prepare yourself for what exactly?"

Mercedes cannot tell Tina the real reason why she doesn't want to work with Sam; that will only imply things that she rather not deal with at this moment. She clears her throat and mutters, "Nothing. The point is: I'm still mad at Kurt."

"I'm sure Kurt is only trying to help," Tina says, trying to hide her excitement. She is definitely going to give Kurt a gift. She hands Mercedes a necklace. "I don't understand. What's the big deal? What's so wrong with working with Sam? I know Sam. Mike knows Sam. He's a pretty good guy." She shrugs. "Don't worry about Kurt. I highly doubt he's out to get you. Maybe he thinks that you and Sam can make some magic together-" She gulps at Mercedes' glare. "...for that story."

Mercedes lets out a deep breath. Maybe she is making a big deal out of nothing- certainly not the first time. It's not the end of the world and Kurt wouldn't do anything to her that isn't out of the goodness of his heart. They always try to help each other in every way possible.

"I swear to the Lord, if I find out what he's up to no good, I'm burning his entire wardrobe. Say I won't."

Tina does not dare to disagree. She only smiles and continues to watch Mercedes get dressed. She needs to warn Kurt that he better do his mission with a watchful eye on his partner. She does not want the operation to fall apart because Mercedes has some serious ex-lover issues.

She needs to switch topics.

"Oh," Tina says, picking up a pair of indigo skinny jeans that have hiding under Mercedes' bags. "You should definitely wear these jeans. It will certainly turn some heads, especially with that shirt." She points at Mercedes' top. "Oh yes, you will definitely get some numbers. I would ask to get me some numbers too, especially from the cute men, but I don't think Mike would appreciate that."

Mercedes cannot help but laugh. Tina can be a mess sometimes; a far cry from the shy woman she met a few years back, who had the tendency to hide away in crowds and did not talk much. At all. To anyone, not even her future husband- until he pretty much forced her to do karaoke with him at Mercedes and Shane's first anniversary party.

"You never know," Tina says smugly. She chuckles at the unbelievable look her friend has on her face. "Maybe you'll catch the attention of another guy, who is a hell of a lot better than that poor excuse of a man you call a boyfriend."

It doesn't take a genius to know what _guy_ she's referring to.

"On my way to a café?" Mercedes asks, laughing as she puts on her favorite pair of heels. No, she's not dressing to impress. She's just in the mood to wear shoes that she normally wears when she goes out with Shane. "Like that will ever happen..." She gives Tina the stink eye. "Tina, really? Poor excuse of a man? Please don't start this again."

"I will continue starting until Shane is no longer in your life," Tina retorts, dodging a magazine thrown her way. She gives Mercedes a teasing smirk. "Don't know why you're mad. I told you at work that I will continue pestering you about your soon-to-be ex."

"I don't know how Mike, or anyone else in that matter, deals with you," Mercedes says, straightening up her clothes. She puts on the headband Tina gives her. "You're too persistent for my liking."

"Some people think that's a good thing."

While Mercedes continues to prep herself for the non-date meeting, Tina takes out her phone and looks up, "How to Convince your Friend to Break up with her Cheating Boyfriend." If Google cannot give her an answer then there may not be any hope unless, of course Sam- and Mercedes- put his nerves aside and confesses his feelings.

She may need to search that one up too.

"By the way, we have a venue for that bonding week after party," Tina announces, beaming. She cannot wait until next Friday, not only because she will have a first class ticker to the drama that will certainly unfold at the bar- having adults surrounded by alcohol always lead to this, but because she will see what plans Santana has for Sam and Mercedes. She promises that it will be epic. "It's going to be at Santana's Bar, owned by the one and only Santana Lopez**.** In matter of fact, it's not far from that café you're going to."

"Nice."

She did it. Santana finally opened a bar. The last time she saw her- at Tina's wedding- the Latina mentioned about opening her own bar because she was not into higher education and working at a retail store was too boring for her. Well, good for her, Mercedes thinks, she always liked Santana.

"So back to Sam..." Tina says. She can feel Mercedes rolling her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes. You know I'm going to keep asking what's going on until you tell me."

"Can you let this one go?"

"No."

Mercedes groans, "It's not that serious."

"Really, Cedes?" Tina whines. "I'm your friend. You need to tell me these things. And don't tell me it's not serious because it totally is. How am I supposed to know why you don't want work with Sam if you keep me in the dark? I promise I won't tell a soul, not even Mike. Knowing my memory, I'll probably forget before the night's over."

Now is the time when Mercedes wishes she had the shy, I-don't-like-talking-to-anyone, Tina back. This is all Mike's fault. She sighs. She doesn't want to talk about her past with Sam. Actually, she will be perfectly fine if she doesn't talk about those four years for the rest of her life.

"Is it because you hate him?"

She can't say she _hates_ Sam because that's not the type of lie one should tell a friend, especially a friend like Tina, who can tell when she's lying the moment she opens her mouth.

"No." Mercedes answers slowly, bowing her head a bit. She gives Tina a mean look before taking one last look at the mirror. She looks good. She's impressed. She usually dresses better when another person is not distracting her with imposing questions. "Hate is a strong word."

"Then what is it?" Tina asks because she really wants to know. Mercedes' answer will influence Operation: Samcedes, for better or worse. "Is there a problem with him? Did he do anything to hurt you?"

Mercedes thinks it's more like the other way around.

"No."

There is nothing wrong with Sam. He gets along with people. He is best friends with Mike- which made the Chang- Cohen Chang wedding a tad more awkward, to say the least. The other female coworkers, besides Tina, flirt with him endlessly- it's like college again. Unfortunately for his admirers, Sam has a girlfriend- or at least, that's what she's heard- who's a Broadway actress. Figgins thinks highly of him. Kurt says Sam has nice eyes and butt- but then again, he says that about every guy that's on the attractive side, so maybe that should not count. It seems everyone gets along with him even Mercedes' mother, something she _definitely_ did not see coming.

"Oh," Tina says quietly. She wishes she can fish out more information but Mercedes appears to be in stubborn mode again. "Then there should be nothing wrong with working with him."

Tina's is right, unfortunately. There is no logical reason why Mercedes should worry about seeing Sam. Sure, the last real conversation they had did not leave them on the _best_ of terms- she still maintains the belief that _that_ was not her fault. But she is a grown woman and grown women should not let past events influence anything, especially if work-related.

Mercedes nods in agreement. "You're right, Tina," she says receiving a rather stunned look from her friend. "There's nothing wrong with working with him. I'm going to go to this meeting- it's supposed to be short- and we will talk about this damn story and we will enjoy it and act like the professional writers we are."

Tina is not sure if she believes Mercedes.

* * *

Mike is supposed to be home right now, taking a much-needed nap but Sam is so nervous about meeting up with Mercedes, that he has no choice but to be a good friend and make sure Sam does not die an anxiety-induced death. That is why he is here, in Sam's living room, watching is best friend pace around the room as if he is about to lose his mind- if you ask Mike, he thinks Sam's lost his mind a _long_ time ago. He has stopped telling Sam to calm down- it hasn't made things better.

Of course his darling wife thinks that him being here is the best thing ever.

He knows he should have joined the Samcedes movement. It's taking over Tina's life which means it's only a matter of time before it takes over his.

"Sam, you're meeting up with a co-worker to discuss a potential story, not meeting up with some chick for a date. Can you stop acting like a chicken without its head?"

"I'm not acting like a chicken without its head," Sam protests. He glimpses at the medium-sized mirror on his wall. He supposes he looks... suitable. This isn't a date, he thinks, but he cannot meet up with Mercedes wearing just anything. "Shut up, Mike."

"Where are you going?"

"Just to the café, near Santana's Bar. It's cheap and it doesn't get too noisy around this time. It's only going to be for twenty minutes. All we are doing is laying the ground work for the story."

The café is small; it only can hold up to twenty people. It's a great place to work; it has a free internet and the last time he's checked, cafes aren't romantic, unless they are in some romantic city and he doesn't think that New York City is romantic. Not that it matters because Mercedes is dating Shane so his chances with her are currently nonexistent.

Not that he is considering it or anything.

"So..." Mike starts off, looking at around. He cannot blow his cover. Sam will kill him and then Tina will find a way to bring him back to life only to kill him too and possibly get killed a third time by Santana. Those two working together should not be legal. Who knows what evil schemes they can be devising right now? Mike sighs. He is pretty sure that he hasn't signed up to play "pry on my best friend's life." He said he would help but he thought helping only included giving Mercedes a good word about Sam. Boy, was he wrong.

"I can't believe you're working with Mercedes. Didn't see that coming."

In all honesty, he really didn't.

Sam glances at Mike through the mirror. He finishes buttoning his shirt, ignoring his trembling hands. "I can't believe it either."

He couldn't for an entirely different reason. He's gotten over the fact that he cannot get out of working with Mercedes. He's accepted his fate and decides that it is only best to move on with his life. Sure, this meeting will be a bit… bizarre, giving that they haven't sat down together and talked since college, but he's a professional. Professionals should not be anxious or terrified about working with another professional.

"Are you... nervous?"

Sam is not nervous; he is simply petrified which is pretty sad considering that Sam is not the one to act this way. He has to admit; he looked like a complete idiot when he found out about the new story. In Sam's defense, he was not expecting Mercedes to walk up to his desk and start talking to him.

"I just don't get it," Sam admits. "She normally works with Kurt. She only does fashion-related stories so why I am working with her now?" he wonders, looking at Mike, hoping at he may have an explanation because he can't think of any. This is odd. A little too odd. "So, to answer your question, yeah, I'm a little bit nervous."

Mike can see where his friend is coming from. In past three years, Mercedes and Sam have never worked together; it isn't even a thought process and it does not help that Sam is a sports writer and Mercedes does fashion. Actually, he thinks that Mercedes has only worked with Kurt. So why the sudden change? And why did Kurt look like he just won the lotto and why did this sound extremely suspicious?

He groans.

_Tina._

She always finds a way to be in the center of some evil plan. He should have known his wife had something to do with Mercedes and Sam working together. Honestly, she needs to stop being a copy editor and get a job as a secret agent; she is one of the most cunning people he knows. She has managed to persuade Kurt to give up his portion of the story to Sam during her little talk with him. So it seems that Kurt Hummel was involved in Operation: Samcedes too.

He is going to have a long talk with that woman as soon as he gets home.

Mike sighs. His friend is helpless. He thinks about telling Sam that Tina, Santana, Brittany, Kurt and possibly Figgins- hey, he wouldn't be surprised- are out to give his quiet life a complete overhaul. He really should because that's what friends do, but a part of him is curious to see how Operation: Samcedes will pan out.

He prays Sam will not kill him in the end.

"Oh come on, it's only Mercedes," Mike reasons. "It's not like you're working with someone like Rachel. Speaking of Rachel, is she finally leaving you alone? Because I know you think she's hot and all, but I'm kind of tired of her calling me to speak to you. I'm a married man now. Tina was about to lose it when Rachel texted me in the middle of the night for two weeks straight. Wait a sec- how did she get my number in the first place?"

Because he sure as hell did not give it to Rachel.

Sam decides to make believe he does not hear Mike's last question. He might or might not have accidentally given Rachel Mike's number that time when he drank way too many beers. He is going to believe that Rachel forced the number out him. It makes him sleep better at night, not being the cause of Mike dealing with Rachel's antics.

Mike sighs in relief. Yes, Rachel is gone. It's not that he doesn't like her; he just thinks she has lost her marbles while performing on Broadway. She was fine when he first met her a few months ago. She was actually normal, and then a month ago, she went batshit crazy. Maybe she fell on her head during one of her shows.

"I have to ask: where do you find these women?"

"You're starting to sound like Santana and my mom."

Mike doesn't take that as a compliment. Not that he has a problem with the two women. Santana, is well, Santana and who wants to sound like their friend's mom?

"I'm really concerned about the way you pick women to date," Mike announces, ignoring his best friend's glare. "Now, I should not be the one talking since I only dated one girl, but at least I married her. You go through women every week. And they are not the normal ones either. They're the ones all the other guys run away from. That's not healthy, man."

Mike has no intentions on grilling Sam about his horrible dating choices but this is becoming a big problem. Sam's mother even called him about it- and that is just sad, because mothers do not call their son's friend to complain about relationship drama.

Sam does not appreciate Mike point out his love life failures, even if he is stating the truth. All he wants to do is get ready for a meeting, not have a heart-to-heart about his ex-flings. It's not his fault he has bad luck with choosing women. He groans. "Do we have to talk about this?"

"I'm serious," Mike says, taking Sam's bag of gummy worms that are conveniently lying next to him. He does not care how precious the candy is to Sam; he is stressing him out with his problems. "I mean look at every ex-girlfriend you had, who's not Santana- she doesn't count because she's a lesbian. They've either cheated on you, left you for a celebrity or were clinically insane."

"Thank you," Sam says in a sarcastic tone. "And for the record, not all of my ex's were crazy or cheaters. It just didn't work out."

Sam grabs the bag of sugary goodness from Mike and puts a handful in his mouth. He takes his keys from his table and motions Mike to get up and leave. He has to be at the café in six minutes; he can't be late.

Mike stops at the door before Sam can kick him out. "Don't embarrass yourself." He grabs and squeezes his annoyed friend's shoulders. "It's just a meeting. Nothing more. Nothing less. And try not to stare at Mercedes' womanly assets for too long. She may find that offensive."

Sam curses Mike to Hell.

**Not much humor in this one, sorry about that. This chapter was supposed to be out yesterday, but I suffered the mother of all writer's block. I had almost everything done, but writing the Mike, Sam part took me forever. I literally spent a few hours staring at the laptop, saying, what I am doing? This doesn't sound right. Why is this so hard? Why am I having writer's block now? And so on. **

**I was going to write about what happens when Sam and Mercedes meet up, but the chapter was getting way too long and the evil writer's block returned for revenge. Therefore it will be saved for the next chapter, which hopefully will be out by this weekend. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Glee or anything that is a apart of the show. If I did, every canon couple would stay canon forever and I would be super rich. I'm simply using the franchise for my own amusement.**

**I want to apologize for updating a month later instead of a week. This semester and my job are kicking my butt and... I just been busy. And to top it off, my computer has been going through some issues which include corrupting random documents- including this chapter- just for the hell of it. Thankfully, as of right now, this damn machine is cooperating with me...for once. **

**I decided to revise the entire story because I did not like where it was going and there were tons of mistakes- stupid mistakes. I changed everything into present tense to see how it would turn out. I like it so far, so I'll stick to it.**

"How many times do I have to tell you that you give customers their receipts, not your number? And why do you think flirting with him is okay? Learn to be professional."

Maribel does not see what the problem is. The blonde man with nice lips is cute. He had winked at her earlier while she took his order- that was a sign right? She certainly thinks so and to top it off, it doesn't look like he's going to be meeting up with anyone. This gives her a perfect opportunity to snag herself a date. She is newly single and she's ready to mingle.

She rolls her eyes as she made her future boyfriend's drink. He wants a white hot chocolate- easy to make. All she has to do is stir the mix with some steamed milk. She takes a few white chocolate shavings from under the counted- only designated for the white chocolate mocha- and adds even more whipped cream- what? She has a man to impress. She smiles at her creation, sprinkles it with some white chocolate chips- only designated for the red velvet mocha- and strolls to the man, ignoring her shaking her head and cursing.

She quickly sticks her tongue out when her boss isn't looking.

Maribel smirks to herself as she walks towards her new crush. She's not going to pay her boss any mind. She is jealous that the cute blond flirted with her. She shrugs; she can't help that she attracts customers- even the creepy ones that sometimes waggle their tongues at her, but that's not the point.

She's going to get a date, just you watch.

Maribel puts on her best flirtatious smile as she neatly places the white hot chocolate on the table. She thinks about batting her lashes but decides that doing so will make her look obvious. She wants to date him, not scare him away.

Sam's mouth waters at the sight of the hot drink. He flashes the waitress a bright smile. "God, this looks delicious."

Maribel blushes and with trembling hands, she places the in front of her future boyfriend. "Th-thank you. Do you want anything else? A pastry? I can give you one for free, and the red velvety cake is absolutely mouthwatering and you know-"

Sam lets out a nervous laugh. This is not the first time he is in this situation; he knows where this is going. "The hot chocolate is fine. Thanks."

Maribel straightens herself up and stares at Sam with surprise. She is not going to go own without a fight. She smiles again, trying not to look like she is about to cry- she doesn't take rejection well- and walks back to the café counter. It's okay, she tell herself, she just has to kick things up a notch.

While Maribel tries to devise another way to get Sam's attention, Mercedes walks into the café with a slight frown on her face. She is not looking forward in seeing Sam. At all. Thirteen times she's thought about calling him and giving him a bullshit excuse to why she's canceling on him. Five times she's tempted to turn around and arrive fashionably late when she sees the café sign.

This is becoming pathetic. She knows it. She takes a deep breath she sees the blonde man through the large window. He is sitting at one of the small round tables, reading through a newspaper.

"Sorry I'm late," Mercedes says, sitting at the table. She puts her purse behind the chair and gives Sam a small apologetic smile. She does not comment about how Sam looks like he's making love to whatever he's drinking. That drink must be amazing since he does not notice her. "There was back-to-back traffic on the West Side Highway."

Sam nearly chokes on the hot chocolate and almost drops the mug before catching it with his other hand. "No need to apologize," he mumbles, blushing a bit and putting the hot chocolate down before he really drops it. No, he is not blushing- he's feeling a bit hot, and when he's hot his face turns red.

He quickly glances at his wristwatch.

Sam raises an eyebrow.

What is she talking about being late? She's on time. She's actually _on_ time. Sam does not know if he should be grateful or terrified for his life. Mercedes always arrive about ten to fifteen minutes late- she calls it being fashionably late because being punctual is overrated. He is not prepared for this.

He wipes off his mouth with his napkin.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. Thank you. And you?"

"I'm fine."

None of them say another word until Maribel comes over and asks for their orders. Mercedes orders a bottle of wine and a piece of chocolate cake- she is supposed to lay off the cake and wine but due to the recent developments in her life, that diet has to be put on hold for the time being.

Sam orders a beer this time. He should not drink alcohol in front of a co-worker, but he has a feeling that he is going to need every stress reliever under the sun to get through this meeting. For the record, Sam is not nervous. No, he just does not like being in awkward situations; that's all.

Maribel arrives with the drinks. She wonders if the woman is planning to drink the entire bottle of red wine- anyway, who orders that at a café? She stops right in front of the table, frowning at the sight of the love of her life- he is, it doesn't matter if she's only him fifteen minutes ago and still does not know his name- giving the woman a longing look.

She quickly gives Sam his beer and gives Mercedes a dirty look as she practically drops the plate of cake in front of her, ignoring the harsh glare from the woman and rushes back to the counter. Great, now she has some competition and so far by the way Sam is looking at his table mate, she's losing horribly.

"You still drink?"

Sam glances at the beer bottle, feeling a bit guilty about not keeping his promises never to drink beer again. Granted, promised this a few years ago, when they both promised to stop doing something that might be harmful- Mercedes' promise was to eat healthier. He rubs the back of his neck and lets out a nervous laugh. "Yeah- not really. Once in a while."

When he is nervous.

Or frustrated.

Or both.

Damn, he needs to get over himself.

Mercedes tries not to pay attention to Sam's body language; she tries not to frown at the fact that Sam looks like he wants to anywhere but here. Mercedes does not know what to do- a rarity. She wants to tell Sam she misses him and apologize for the shit storm she caused a few weeks before college graduation.

"I have to admit, I was not expecting to work with you on something so important for the next issue," Mercedes says, taking a piece of her cake. It's so good that it temporary makes Mercedes forget to confront the waitress about her attitude problem. It's all good; she just won't give her a tip. "Kurt insists that us working together will enhance the story." She pauses and laughs at Sam's confused face. "Yeah, I know. I'm still trying to find out what 'enhance the story' means. I don't know if you heard, but this is supposed to be the cover story for next month."

Sam thinks this whole story fiasco smells a bit fishy. He could have sworn Mercedes was going to work with Kurt on the story. Everyone was talking about it. So why, all of a sudden he's working with Mercedes? Not that he minds; actually, he sees this as a perfect opportunity to put an end to this stupid no-talking pack he has with her. Hey, maybe they can be friends again.

"I'm sure we will be fine," Sam responds, wondering if doing a story with his ex-lo- friend will result in a disaster professionally and personally. "We have connections to the sports and fashion industries and we have three weeks to bang this story out. It's completely doable."

Mercedes does not look so sure. Yes, from a rational standpoint, Sam is absolutely right, but a part of her wants to get out of it. She opens the bottle of wine and pours some in her glass. "You're right."

Sam is not convinced that Mercedes is convinced that they will do a great job. He doesn't know why. Figgins, or rather Kurt, wants them to work together for a reason. Figgins may have his issues- which include being a little pushover when dealing Emma Pillsbury, the co-editor in chief, but he is serious about whatever content will be in the magazine.

"Mercedes," he says in more serious tone. "We _will_ be fine. It's not like we're writing the whole magazine. We have a lot of time and like I said, we have connections. I assure you, we will be finished with this story in two weeks tops."

Mercedes hates the fact that Sam has more faith in this story than she does. She sighs. "You're right," she repeats, taking a sip of her wine. "This is not going to be hard."

Mercedes takes out a notepad and puts in on the table. She needs to get down to business. The sooner they make an outline the sooner she can yell at herself for thinking about how nice it will be to kiss the man across from her.

Mercedes clears her throat. No, that is not the reason why she wants this meeting to end as soon as possible. No, she still does not have some sort of feelings for Sam, no matter what those damn butterflies in her stomach that won't leave her the hell alone are saying. No, she does not. You know why?

Because she's a one-man woman.

And one-man women do not think about ravishing their co-workers.

Fine, she'll admit it. She still is attracted to Sam, but it's not her fault. She swears it's not. He looks nice in a suit; she loves the he runs his hands through his hair when he's nervous- like right now- and has she ever mention how mesmerizing his eyes are?

Anyway, onto more pressing and professional topics.

"Okay, let's get down to business," she begins writing in the notepad. There is too much small talk going on for her liking. "I can get an interview with the CEO with one fashion companies. He owes me a favor. What about you?"

"I can talk to some of the general managers." Sam shrugs. "I may be able to talk to the sports uniform people by the end of the week. And I can also-"

"Hold on a sec," Mercedes says, looking at her phone, cutting Sam off. She knows this may be rude, but she's supposed to pick up her mother from Grand Central Terminal tonight and she still doesn't know what time she' has to be there. Her mom has promised her that she will text her with the time.

She unlocks her phone and groans. Great, it's Shane and he wants to know where she is. She cannot tell Shane she's meeting up with Sam for work purposes. He will throw a fit; she can see where he's coming from, she thinks. It's night time and she is sitting with another man in an intimate cafe- she doesn't know why Sam has to pick this place of all places; it reminds her of a place one would go to for a first date. All this place needs is a violinist.

"Is everything okay?"

Mercedes eyes widen a bit and she quickly stuffs her phone in her purse. She shakes her head and says, without really thinking, "Everything is fine. It's just Shane." She clears her throat. Of course she mentions he boyfriend in front of her ex-boy-whatever. She stuffs a piece of cake in her mouth.

"Shane?" Sam says, before finishing the last of the hot chocolate. "Wow, I haven't seen him in years. How's he doing?"

Mercedes raises an eyebrow.

Wait-

She forgets that Sam has met Shane before.

It was not the most pleasant meeting since the two men were glaring at each other for about an hour. She did not know what Sam's problem was. All she wanted to do was introduce her new boyfriend to Sam and vice versa. That was all; she did not see the problem, of course, she was the only one out of the three who didn't. Shane questioned her quite a few times why she thought rooming with another man while dating someone else was a good idea.

That led into their first fight.

"Shane," Mercedes replies in a low voice, picking at the icing of the cake; she is so tempted eat the sugary goodness. This was certainly an unexpected question. "Shane, he is... fine. Thanks for asking."

Mercedes is lying but Sam decides to leave that alone.

"You two are still together?"

He wants to hit his head with the beer bottle as soon as he finishes his question. He is curious. But he just wants to say that this is not the question he plans to ask. He knows he's entering dangerous waters, but he can't help but be curious. He heard rumors about Mercedes' relationship with the football player.

Mercedes, not saying a word, absent mindedly plays with the pages of her notepad. She glances up at Sam who has a deer-caught-in-headlights looks. If she hasn't been so surprise that he would ask that, she would have laughed. "We are going through some... issues mainly on Shane's part. He seems not to understand what a monoga-" She catches herself before she spills even more confidential information. "But yes, we are still together."

She gives Sam the most convincing-but-not-really smile she can muster. She has to make believe she is fine with staying with Shane- this is a front that she plans to stick to until she finds out what the hell she is going to do with her love life.

Sam cannot believe it. So the rumors are true. He heard earlier, while pretending to do research about the sports uniform drama but secretly playing World of Warcraft, Tina talking to Kurt about Shane cheating on Mercedes. Of course he didn't hear everything thanks to Will Shuester roaming around the office, making sure everyone was during their work- but he couldn't believe it. Who would cheat on Mercedes? She's perfect- well, um... a very sweet woman. Not perfect because no one is perfect.

"Why would you let him do that to you?"

_Shit._

That's not what he meant to say. Unfortunately, Sam's mouth likes to move without getting any rational clarification from his brain. Sam gulps. He wants to apologize for over stepping his boundaries- he really does, but he can sense from that nasty look Mercedes' giving him that an apology would be useless.

Terrific. Now his chances of having any type of relationship- friendship or professional- are out the window.

"Do what?" Mercedes asks, clenching her wine glass tightly. She wants to throw the drink at Sam, but restrains herself.

"Never mind."

"No. Do what?"

Sam thinks about making up an entirely different story. One that won't make Mercedes go ballistic on him, but nothing comes up. Cursing his mind's lack of an ability to lie at times like this, he resorts to the truth. "Cheat on you."

"Where the hell did-?"

He forgets Mercedes can be snappy sometimes.

"I accidentally overheard it." Sam defends, hoping Mercedes won't throw the half-filled wine glass at him. "I swear. It was an accident. I wasn't ease dropping or anything. I just heard."

"You... just _heard_," Mercedes repeats slowly. She downs the rest of the wine and pours more into the glass. "Well. You need to unhear everything because whatever is going on between Shane and me is none of your damn business."

Sam gulps. He cannot believe how quickly things have turned sour. Sure, it pretty much his fault for prying into territories he has no business being in. This is not the kind of conversation he wants to have especially if he has to deal with Shane.

"Mercedes, I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it. It's my private life and I need you to stay out of it," Mercedes snaps, drinking more wine. She shouldn't drink much- it's not doing her any favors. But fuck it- Sam is stressing her out. She needs her alcohol. "Now can we please get back to the reason why we're here in the first place? I need to leave before the hour."

There's nothing Sam can do. He barely escapes getting his head chopped off. He's not taking any chances now. He waits for Mercedes to say something, thinking that she have some more ideas. She doesn't. He sighs and puts his notes in a pile. "I didn't mean-"

"Can we _please_ move on?"

Sam does not say or do anything; he just stares at the empty mug.

Mercedes pours more wine into her glass- her fourth for the night.

"Look, Mercy- Mercedes, I didn't mean to offend you-"

"Of course you didn't."

"I mean it. If you want to stay with him, go ahead." He pauses; maybe he should just keep his mouth shuts. It has done nothing but get him in trouble. "Don't mind. I'm sorry about overstepping my boundaries." He pauses again. "About next issue's story. Figgins said-"

"I cannot deal with this," Mercedes grumbles, cutting Sam off with a harsh glare. Yes, she is being a bit unfair. She knows Sam. He does not have a filter when it comes to talking about certain topics, but she's currently going through some tough things with Shane. She does not need to deal with this now; she already has Tina judging her and quite frankly, she does not need another person to join Tina, especially if it's Sam. "I cannot with the story now... or you at this time. Maybe we should work separately and put our ideas together next week."

Sam should have seen this coming. He needs to staple his mouth shut when he's around Mercedes. Now she's pissed off and there is nothing worse than working with someone who hates your guts.

It takes all the power in the universe not to bang his head on the table. Kurt is going to kill him for messing this up, along with Mike and Figgins. "You can talk to Figgins about working with Kurt, if you don't want to work with me," he says. "I'll understand.'

"That's not what I meant," Mercedes mumbles. Yeah, she should have worded it differently. But it's not her fault Sam is taking things to another level yet again. She hates explaining herself. "I didn't say I didn't want to work with you..."

"You were pretty much implying it."

"I was not," Mercedes responds sternly. She should have known this 'meeting' is going to turn into a disaster. "Look," she begins, trying to alleviate the misunderstanding she's responsible for- well, not really but she hates when people assume things that are not true. "I am not good with working with new people. That's all."

"New people? We've roomed together for four years. How am I a new person?"

Mercedes groans. Of course Sam has to mention those four years. "That's not the same," she protests. "And anyway, we don't know each other anymore. This has been the most we've spoken in five years!"

"Mercedes..."

Mercedes holds her hands up, silencing anything Sam wants to say. She ignores the look of frustration on Sam's face. "Forget about it. Let's reconvene on Sunday, shall we?"

Sam makes no effort to hide his disappointment. He doesn't understand how they've gotten to this point. He could have sworn they went their separate without any issues. For heaven's sake, they're only writing another story, not dating again- not that they've dated before or at least that's what Sam keeps telling himself.

Unbeknownst to Sam and Mercedes, three women watch the whole fight from Santana's car.

"This is a disaster!" Brittany shrieks, dropping her binoculars. She wants to run towards Sam and Mercedes' table and tell them to get their act together, but she knows that doing so will only result in heartbreak.

Tina turns her head to the leader of the group and solemnly says, "Well, there goes Plan A. I guess having alcohol is going to be the only way to get them to have a civil conversation. We just have to make sure they don't black out."

"Those assholes," Santana rolls her eyes and tosses her binoculars in the back seat. She crosses her arms and glares at the two bickering ex-lovers. Terrific now she has to initiate Plan B. "I really didn't think we had to resort to _that_, but it looks like we have no choice."

**Eh... Not a fan of this chapter but I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, I want to apologize for the uploading drought. I have about half of the next chapter done so it will not take me more than a month to update *cross fingers ***

**As always, thanks a bunch for the reviews and please do not hesitate to tell me what you think! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Glee or anything that is a apart of the show. If I did, every canon couple would stay canon forever and I would be super rich. I'm simply using the franchise for my own amusement.**

**_Wednesday_**

When Tina agreed to be a part of Operation: Samcedes, she knew it wasn't going to be a walk in a park- that was a given. If it was going to be easy then Santana wouldn't have bothered asking her for assistance. She knew she was going to spend more time trying to get her co-workers together than editing articles. She knew she was going to get her husband involved because, well, she was Tina and Tina always convinced Mike to do things.

But she, never in a million years, expected Operation: Samcedes to fail.

Why?

Because although Sam and Mercedes are the poster children for stubborn people, they love each other.

And love conquers all, right?

Apparently not.

When Tina arrives at McKinley Headquarters, she expects the climate to be tense especially after the disaster that is Sam and Mercedes' last night meeting. She knows Sam and Mercedes are going to try to stay as far away from each as physically possible, and Kurt will hide from Mercedes for pretty much the rest of his natural-born life. Poor Kurt, he's never going to be the same.

However, she does not expect to be thrown into the middle of the McKinley's version of the Cold War.

Seriously, there's a hypothetical Team Sam on the left side of the office, consisting of Mike, Rory, Will Shuester- though she's pretty he has no idea what is going on, Shannon Beiste and numerous Sam fan girls and boys. On the right side, there is Team Mercedes, consisting of Sugar, Emma, a few interns who are shadowing under Mercedes. Kurt is currently on Team Neutral with the mail boy and Holly for reasons of his own. Both teams are sending mean looks across the room and when they're not doing this, they're giving cold shoulders.

Now Tina knows this sounds crazy because seriously, what place of business does something like this?

Tina sees Figgins through his transparent office door. He looks stressed out- well, being the editor-in-chief, he's always stressed out but this time, it's more than usual.

She sighs as she tosses her purse under her desk and sits down. This is going to be long day; she can feel it. Everyone's on edge especially those involved in Operation: Samcedes. Santana, and rightfully so, is mad beyond belief. Brittany is in distress. Mike is stressed out because Sam is stressed out- one of the consequences of being a best friend and a ranting buddy. Kurt looks like he's about to cry and Sam and Mercedes- she has a feeling that they want to mutilate each other slowly and painfully.

Tina needs to fix this as soon as possible without getting hurt and jeopardizing her friendships.

She turns to Kurt who is sneaking in pieces of pound cake while being on the lookout for Hurricane Mercedes- his new moniker for his partner who wants to kill him; Tina has tried to convince the poor man that Mercedes is not out to maim him; his response: you cannot be too sure. He is so paranoid about Mercedes living up to her threats that he's moved his desk next to Tina's.

Tina thinks he's going overboard.

Kurt claims he is only taking precautions.

Maybe Tina has a point. But come on, can you blame him? He is trying to stay clear of Mercedes. He can tell from the not-so-nice looks his partner is giving Sam that their little meeting has been a bust. Great, another reason for her to hate him. He thinks about asking Figgins to put him back on the story but he knows that Figgins isn't going to make that happen. Damn him and his convincing skills; now Figgins think that Sam and Mercedes working together is a gift from the heavens.

"Kurt," she says, shaking her head at the sad sight next to her. "Mercedes is in the bathroom. You can stop hiding behind the piles of look books."

Kurt eyes Tina, not appreciating her teasing tone. "I know that and for your information, Tina Cohen-Chang Chang, I am not hiding from my partner. I'm just looking through these look books and eating this delicious cake in a very discreet manner. It's called multi-tasking. You should try it sometime."

"Oh, is that what it's called now?"

"Shut up, Tina."

Tina laughs and looks at Sam's direction. Oh no, it looks like he's ranting to Mike again.

"I have to admit, the atmosphere in this office is quite... what's the word? Tense. Has something happen that I don't know about?"

Kurt snorts.

"Are Sam and Mercedes on some sort of speaking terms?" Tina asks; she knows the answer but she hopes that something, anything, has changed from last night.

The chances are unlikely.

Kurt sighs after eating another piece of cake. The cake is supposed to be for the interns as a gift for their good behavior, but oh well. "It's quite the opposite. Word on the street is that their little meeting didn't go too well. Now they hate each other." He pauses then buries his head in his hands. "Tina, this is all my fault."

"It's not your fault. Sam and Mercedes have some serious issues." Tina pats Kurt's trembling shoulders in sympathy. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. We will find a way to knock some sense into them."

Mercedes wants everyone to know that her behavior during last night's meeting is completely uncharacteristic for her and absolutely, positively uncalled for. She is a professional and professionals do not act in such a way with their coworkers- anyone for that matter. She was raised better than that. All she wants to do is apologize to Sam and ask for forgiveness.

Of course she chooses to send Sam heated glares from her desk instead because for some reason, she thinks doing so is more productive. She's gained sympathy from various co-workers including Emma although she hasn't told them anything about last night. She's sure that people can sense her anger from Sam all the way in upstate New York down to the Jersey Shore.

Mercedes convinces herself that she has the right to be mad at Sam; it's his fault she's like this. He shouldn't have talked about Shane and ask her why she let him cheat on her- a very good question, a question she is too scared to answer. Yes, she kind of blurted out that she was having problems with Shane but a smart person would have left it alone, not pry on the very personal topic.

But then again, this is Sam and Sam-

Well, Sam is different.

"Figgins is not going to give this story back to Kurt," Emma says, cutting her breakfast sandwich in half. She wishes she can give Mercedes another alternative, seeing that she is in great distress with the thought of working with Sam. The co-editor-in-chief does not ask why; she's not sure if she wants to know; it may confirm the rumors going around McKinley.

"So I've heard."

"I'm so sorry Mercedes. I've tried to persuade Figgins but he won't budge," Emma says, genuinely feeling bad. She likes Mercedes; she thinks she is a terrific editor and she hates to see Mercedes is such great distress over a story. To be honest, Emma doesn't understand Mercedes' aversion to working with the sports writer. Sam is a nice guy. As far as she knows, he does not have any qualms about anyone that's not Mercedes. Figgins' given him rave reviews and he has a lot of connections to many professional sports organizations- very resourceful for the magazine.

"Emma, there's no need to apologize. I didn't even ask you to persuade Figgins to put Kurt back on the story. Thank you for the effort though. It was very thoughtful of you."

"I don't want any of our writers to feel uncomfortable," Emma quietly says, leaning back in her seat. She feels bad. She really does. "You should talk to Sam."

"I did. It backfired."

"Greeting Sam and telling him to get out of your way do not count as talking," Emma points out before taking a sip of her milk. "You should express your feelings. Tell him why you are mad and that you prefer that he never speaks about your personal life again. You two are working on the biggest story for next month's issue; it shall not be jeopardized because of a little misunderstanding."

Mercedes hates when other people are right about her problems.

On the other side of the office, Holly Holiday paints her nails as she listens to one of her "patients" confess her problems.

Holly wants everyone to know that writing advice columns for McKinley Magazine is not the same thing as being a certified therapist. She has mentioned this to her peers, plenty of times, but everyone seem to think that having a degree in journalism is the equivalent to having one in psychology. She should be flattered, having various employees dump of their issues on her; this only validates her talent for providing very good advice. Figgins would be proud but- she isn't sure if she likes being the unofficial therapist at this place.

Right now, Sugar Motta is complaining to her about Rory. Holly wants to say that she cares, but she doesn't. Well, not really. She does not want to sound mean; sometimes she likes helping people, but seriously, Sugar needs to tell Rory about their issues not Holly.

Oh nice, Sugar is changing topics.

"Do you see the way Mercedes and Sam are looking at each other?"

Holly gives a bored glance at the duo and shakes her head. Honestly, she finds the entire thing hilarious.

No wonder Tina wants to get them together.

She knows about Operation: Samcedes. Don't ask her how because she's not going to disclose any sources. But let's just say: she hears everything that goes on in McKinley. She's known about Operation: Samcedes from the moment Tina talked to Kurt about finding a way to make Sam and Mercedes speak more than three words to each other. She can't say she is too surprised when Sugar tells her that Sam and Mercedes are working on a story together because Kurt suggests that they will make the story "epic."

Ugh, she cannot stand that word.

"I wonder why Kurt would do something like that," Sugar says, cutting her blueberry muffin in half. She offers a piece to Holly who respectfully declines because she is doing some sort of detox diet... um, attempting to. "They always work together and it's a cover story. Nobody gives up a cover story just like _that._ Don't you find that a bit... weird?"

That same thought has crossed Holly's mind plenty of times.

"Very."

"And to top it off, Mercedes is extremely upset with Sam."

"That's not good," Holly comments. "What could he have possibly done?"

"No clue; he must have hit a nerve last night."

Sugar does not say anything else before she heads to the bathroom. Holly leans back in her seat and watches the quite hilarious sight that is Sam and Mercedes.

She does not have anything due for the next three weeks- one of the benefits of not procrastinating and buying some Adderall from some unsuspecting college students, not that she will admit that she is supporting the underground college prescription drug market. Figgins has her doing four advice columns for this month's issue and possibly next month's. Honestly, the only reason she even bothers to show up to work is to laugh at the way Will and Emma are trying not to act like they are in love and to get free baked goods from those lovely interns who think they bribing her with lovely cookies will make her grade their evaluation more leniently. Yeah, she's on a detox diet but those damned cookies are so tempting.

Because Holly is bored and not in the mood to hit on that cute intern sitting at one of the desks, she concludes that she may as well live up to her reputation, as the queen of advice, and give Tina some assistance. She should help her out; she's a team player. She pushes her chair back, takes a sip of her no-foam latte, blows her nails, puts the nail polish in her purse, winks at another intern who is checking her out (what? It's not her fault she's hot) and strides towards Tina with a determined look.

"Hey Chang-squared, how's it going?"

Tina grimaces at the nickname; she doesn't know why Holly has the need to call her Chang-squared. She is perfectly aware that her maiden name and married name are the same. She puts her pen down and says, smiling, "Hi, Holly. You seem to be in a really good mood. Found a boyfriend for the week?"

Holly laughs. She would feel just a tad offended if Tina is someone else, but they always tease each other so it's all good. She lets out a dramatic sigh. "Unfortunately no, I had a potential candidate, really cute too, but he didn't seem too keen about my role as a dominatrix. He said it scared the crap of out him." She shrugs at Tina's amused expression.

"I'm sure you'll find someone who wouldn't mind." Tina laughs. "Oh, you should invest in a match maker."

"I don't think he or she will be able to handle me," Holly admits. She knows she can be a handful to many people- not that she cares. She's bold. She's wild and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Holly smile turns into a devious smirk. "Speaking of match making, how's Operation: Samcedes going?"

"How did you-?" Tina sputters. This is supposed to be a secret; only a selected few is supposed to know about Operation: Samcedes. She's pretty sure she's never told Holly about it so how on earth does the advice column know? She groans. Oh right. Of course, this is Holly she's talking about. She knows _everything_. "It's going bad."

Holly glances back at Sam and Mercedes who still may or may not be sending each other nasty looks. Why Tina thinks it's a good idea to try to hook Sam and Mercedes together, of all people, up is beyond her. She will have an easier time finding Kurt a boyfriend who can deal with his antics. "Yeah, I kind of figured that from the way Sam and Mercedes are glaring at each other."

"I know it does not seem this way, but Sam and Mercedes are perfect for each other. They just don't know it or they do but won't admit it. Which I can understand because Sam sucks at the dating game and Mercedes has her own drama with Shane."

"Yeah, I heard about Shane," Holly mutters. She's pretty sure that everyone at McKinley knows about Shane's cheating ways. Tina hasn't been too quiet on the topic. "Mercedes must feel horrible. No one wants to be cheated on. Is she still with him?"

Tina straightens in her seat and scowls. She cannot believe Mercedes is still with the bastard. "Of course she is. She thinks they are going to stay together forever and ever and get married and have tons of babies. I just don't get it; Mercedes is smart, really smart. She cannot be this _stupid._"

"People do stupid things when it comes to their emotions." Holly comments understanding where Mercedes is coming from, even though she believes Tina has a very good point. "Trust me, I know. So, who is in charge of this matchmaking thing?"

"Santana," Tina answers in a low voice. She notices Sam walking in her direction, probably to the lounge, and she does not want to him to suspect that she is working with his female best friend. That will only lead into some major problems. "I don't think you've met her." She continues as Holly shakes her head. "She is Sam's female best friend. She created Operation: Samcedes so that he can get back with Mercedes once and for all."

Holly raises an eyebrow. Interesting. Very interesting. "Get back? Are you implying that Sam and Mercedes used to date?"

"Uh, I wouldn't say that, really. Let's just say they were intimately involved."

Well then, Holly interest's in this match making plan has just jumped a tenfold. To be honest, she does not expect to hear that Sam and Mercedes used to be very friendly with each other. But then again, that does explain why they don't want to work together. Oh yeah, Holly smirks, there is much more to this story than those two are letting on.

"Oh, _oh_. Tell me about this operation you guys are doing. How do you plan on getting them two together especially since they are pretty much on non-speaking terms?"

"We currently don't have a concrete plan," Tina sadly admits. It breaks her heart how much Plans A through D have derailed in such a short amount of time. "We were hoping that by working together, Mercedes and Sam can rekindle that fire but so far that has epically failed."

"You think?" Holly shakes her head. It's quite obvious the Samcedes crew have not thought this matchmaking through. "Of course it wasn't going to work. You are not getting two strangers together; you trying to get two people _back_ together. That's a whole another ball game. You can't take the easy and short route. That will only end in disaster. If you want to get those two knuckle heads together, you need to dig deep. You need to find out what the hell happened and make them realize that they belong together. You need to take Operation: Samcedes to the _next_ level."

Tina, extremely offended, crosses her arms and narrows her eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that you need a professional and a much better plan because as you can tell, trying to get Sam and Mercedes together is going to be a bitch. For some reason, they have a load of issues, starting with denial, and we need to fix that. We need to scrap the subtlety and push our agenda in their faces."

"But wouldn't that be a bit... too much? We can't force them to do anything. They won't like it and will hate us."

"Tina, we're trying to hook two people up here! We can't worry about that now."

Tina should be grateful for Holly's insight since she is Holly and she seems to know everything about everything. But Holly's relationship track record is just as horrid as Sam- yes, this is possible. As far she knows, Holly's longest relationship lasted for a week. Though in Holly's defense, at least she admits she has a commitment problem unlike Sam who is so oblivious about everything it's tragic.

"And how do you suggest we take it to the next level? I do want to come out of this _alive._"

"I'm working on that," Holly says. "But before we can move forward, we need Mercedes to dump that cheating loser."

Tina rolls her eyes and groans. Yes, she knows this. She's been trying to do so ever she found out about Shane's infidelity. "What you think I've been doing? She won't listen to me. She thinks that he's going to stop cheating on her. It's like she doesn't care he cheated on her seven times."

"Now, I don't think she doesn't care. She's only staying with him because they've been dating for a few years. She thinks he'll get over his cheating ways. Don't worry about it. Leave Mercedes to me," Holly says, smirking widely. She has plenty of experience with telling people to get their acts together. She has broken up many relationships before- not because she takes much joy in doing so though she must admit it can be entertaining- but because the party involved should never be together. "I'll guide her to the right path."

"So, are you staying that you'll be joining the cause?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Luckily for you, I have nothing to do for the next three weeks," Holly responds, shrugging as if she knows exactly when she's putting herself through. Hey, at least she won't be bored and anyway, she is better at dealing with other love lives' than her own. "And I have to admit that I'm quite curious how Operation: Samcedes will pan out."

Tina claps her hands together. She is excited again, though she does feel a bit worried about Holly's involvement. The columnist reminds her of Santana; she's bold, maybe a bit too bold and is not afraid to get in people's faces. She quickly takes out her phone and texts Santana: _We should have a meeting. Tonight after work with everyone involved in Operation: Samcedes. By the way, recruited a new team member. You will love her. _

"How are you going to get Mercedes to break up with Shane?" Tina asks as she puts away her phone.

Holly rises from her seat and replies before walking towards Mercedes, "Watch and learn, young padawan."

"Pada-what?"

Holly stops and gives Tina an unbelievable look. "You know. Padawan, from Star Wars?"

"I have never watched Star Wars."

"You poor deprived soul," Holly says, shaking her head. Seriously, who hasn't watched Star Wars before? Not to say she likes the movies; she only tolerated them because her ex-boyfriend was a science fiction geek. Like Sam, but much more crazy. "You have so much to learn; Tina, much to learn. Just follow my lead."

Mike knows about what happened at the meeting.

He endured an entire ranting session from Sam last night, at midnight with Tina listening close by- he tried to convince her to go back to bed, but Tina being Tina, sternly declined. He went through another ranting session earlier this morning- he made the mistake of arriving at McKinley early to get some work done not realizing that Sam would be there too.

He feels sorry for Sam, he really does. Sam loves Mercedes, of course he will not admit this, but he does. If Mike hasn't known this before, he definitely knows now after having a three-hour and a thirty-minute long heart-to-heart moment with Sam.

"So let me get this straight, Mercedes still won't talk to you? What are you going to do about this? I mean, you have to work with Mercedes; you need to be able to communicate with her, preferably verbally. Figgins isn't going to assign anyone else to the story. He's only mentioned this about twenty times."

"I tried apologizing to her. Hell, I have been doing that since last night. I texted her; I called her six times _and_ left a message each time. Face it, she hates my guts."

"I wouldn't go that far..."

Mike has a lot of work to do. He cannot afford to spend the entire work day dealing with the drama that is Mercedes and Sam nonexistent love life. He's already dealt with that last night. He wants to get off topic, but he's Sam's best friend and best friends listen to other best friend's problems.

"You didn't see the look she gave me when I mentioned Shane. I thought she was going to shove her wine bottle down my throat. It was downright scary."

"Oh I can imagine." Mike believes Sam. Mercedes can have a bit of a mean streak- he wishes that she unleashes this on her cheating boyfriend than Sam but whatever. That was one woman you do not want to cross. "Why did you talk about Shane in the first place?"

"She mentioned him first, not me." Sam narrows his eyes. "Didn't I tell you this already?"

Mike rolls his eyes. This is becoming even more of that mess than he's anticipated. He wants to tell Tina that just because two people have a past relationship history does not mean they're soul mates but his words will only fall to deaf ears.

"You have to see where she is coming from. Yeah, she went a bit overboard, but she's going through some rough patches in her relationship with Shane. People normally don't like when other people call them out on their mistakes."

"But he cheated on her."

"Yes I know," Mike mumbles. This Mercedes talk is getting to sentimental for his liking. He's supposed to be doing work, not trying to convince his best friend to try to convince Mercedes that he hasn't meant any harm. "But that is not something that you talk about at a business meeting."

"_But she mentioned it first_," Sam argues as Mike groans. Yes, he should not have pressed further on the topic, but still. "She was the one who told me that Shae texted her. All I did was ask how he was doing. That's all, and then she went ahead and said she was having problems with Shane. Problems with him being faithful."

"She actually said that? To you?"

"Well, no. But she was about to but then stopped herself. She didn't deny it."

"You're playing with fire, bro."

"I know. I know. It's just- I'm annoyed as hell. I lost her because of him. For what? For him to cheat on her."

Mike widens his eyes a bit. Well, this is... uh new. He's not sure he likes where this is going. But he has a feeling is going to find out a lot more about this messed up sort of love triangle whether he likes it or not. He puts aside his work and listens on.

Thank god, there is no one in the vicinity of the two men.

"By all means, Sam, carry on."

Which Sam does because he's mad all over again, and when he's mad he does not know how to shut up.

"I never liked that asshole. I never did," Sam grumbles angrily. "I knew from the first time I saw him that he was going to hurt Mercedes. I tried telling her that, many times, but she didn't believe me. Do you know how many fights we'd had over this? She said that I was only saying that besides I didn't want her to be happy. Can you believe that? All I ever wanted was for her to be happy. And now look what happened? She's with a cheating bastard and is mad at me because of what _he_ did."

Mike thinks about cutting in and saying that that's sort of not the only reason, but decides it will make his life a great deal easier if he lets Sam continue his very interesting monologue.

"I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't help it. I'm sick and tired of Mercedes always picking men who don't give a damn about her. This isn't the first time someone cheated on her, you know. I don't understand why she keeps on doing this to herself. I know I shouldn't be talking since apparently, I can't keep a stable girlfriend to save my life." Mike nods in agreement. "But _damn_. My point is this: she needs someone who can make her happy. I know it's possible- I did it for four years straight!"

Mike decides to finish off the soup he'd heated up a few minutes ago. He's planned to eat it in the lounge but as one can see, Sam has kept him occupied.

Sam takes a moment to cool off. His face returns back to its natural color. He stops clenching his fists and takes a deep breath. His scowl turns in a very determined look.

Mike does not know if he likes the look or not.

"I know she rather see me dead now," Sam begins, sitting up in his seat. "But whatever she has with Shane is not going to last forever. I know what she wants. I know how to make her happy and because of this, I'm going to get her back."

Mikes drops his spoon and nearly burns himself with his soup as his jaw literally drops. He is not expecting _that._ "What? Are you serious?"

Sam looks at him as if he is offended by Mike even thinks he's joking. Yeah, winning her back maybe a bit of a stretch, but he can do it. He just needs a plan that won't get him killed and well, find a way to get Shane out of Mercedes' life too.

Operation: Samcedes just got more interesting.

"What- how- when did you get this epiphany?"

"Fifteen seconds ago."

Mike is kind of speechless. He does not know where Sam's change of heart has come from, but he knows he is going to be a part of whatever his best friend is planning to do, because he's Mike. He's supposed he should be glad. Maybe this can get Sam out of his never-ending sulking mode.

He glances back at Tina who is talking to Holly and smiles. Very soon he's going to brighten up her day.

While Sam continues to tell his best friend about how he's going to get Mercedes to like him again, Tina and Holly finally reaches Mercedes' desk.

Mercedes does not say anything as Holly brings a chair over and sits at her desk. Holly does not mind; the fashion editor needs to save her voice for the lengthy explanation she will provide I order to end all of this foolery. Tina takes a chair from one of the interns' desk and sits right next to Holly. Mercedes doesn't say anything to her anything.

Though she is a bit suspicious.

"Hello, Ms. Jones."

"Hi, Mercedes."

Mercedes looks up from her computer screen. Holly and Tina choose a fine time to visit her. She's actually doing research for the story from Hell. "Hello to you both. How can I help you?"

Tina looks at Holly.

Holly looks back at Tina and starts off by saying, "Mercedes, I have the utmost respect for you. I thank you for getting my seats for New York Fashion Week and for letting me wear those shoes from the wardrobe room. I think you are an amazing writer and you will win a Pulitzer one day. I'm only saying this because I love you: dump Shane and move on with your life so I can move on with mine."

Wow, Holly wasn't subtle _at all_.

Mercedes shuts down her computer. "Wait- how did you-?"

"You guys aren't that discreet about your relationship problems. I'm pretty sure the entire state of New York knows about it."

Mercedes curses and glares at Tina.

Tina shrugs.

"Holly, I appreciate your concern, but my relationship with Shane is going fine."

Tina mouths 'I told you so' to Holly. It does not faze the columnist. "Is this a joke? You are joking, right? Tina, please tell me that Mercedes is kidding."

Mercedes glares at Tina; she knows Tina has a hand in this. That's why she is so quiet. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm fine where I am. In fact I have a date with Shane tonight."

Tina curses.

Holly wonders if she has done anything wrong in her past life to make her work with idiots. "Didn't he cheat on you, like seven times? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tina agrees. "That's what I said."

Holly thinks about holding a seminar on how to deal with relationship problems because people at McKinley are so dense about these things. She's not sure if Figgins will agree to this idea since it has nothing to do with the magazine. She smirks; maybe she can squeeze something in during that... what is it called? Uh... team building week.

Mercedes' answer is a glare.

Holly takes a deep breath. Okay, she can deal with this. She just has to tell Mercedes why she needs to dump Shane- though the answer is so obvious. "Okay, Mercedes, I get it. You like Shane; you've been dating him for a while now. You think he's going to stay faithful and all of that good stuff. Well, I have news for you: it's not going to happen."

Tina warily glances from Mercedes to Holly. Mercedes looks a bit annoyed; Holly does not give a damn. Kurt, who is watching the whole thing from two desks behind, is shaking his head. She bites her lips. Maybe Holly is being too blunt about Shane. Yeah, Mercedes needs a reality check, but seriously, who wants a reality check nine o'clock in the morning?

Tina clears her throat trying to get Holly's attention, but the unofficial therapist keeps on talking.

"Mercedes, you are one of the smartest people I know. I mean it. But damn, you're clueless. I don't understand women- and I supposed men- like you who think that their significant other isn't going cheat on them because he says so. And then get mad when he does. That's your fault, not the man's. He can't help himself; he's a whore. Okay... maybe it's his fault too but that's because he lied and can't keep promises to save his life. And come on, Shane cheated on you seven times. I can understand you want to stay after one time- though I don't agree with it. But seven times? Mercedes, why do you think this is okay?"

"Preach," Tina says, nodding in agreement and clapping her hands. This is why Holly needs to be a part of Operation: Samcedes.

"It's because I love him."

"No you don't," Holly counters. "You have a fear of being alone. You think you love him but that love is really you being desperate. Come on, girl, use some damn common sense. You can do _so_ _much_ better."

Mercedes lets out a dejected sigh. So Holly's right- not surprising. Holly's good at giving advice; it's her job. But she does not like dumping people; it's too much work and she feels like she's the one who feels the worst after a break up. "I don't like dumping people."

"Oh my god..." Tina says, slapping her forehead.

"No problemo." It seems that Holly has the answer to everything. "I have no problem doing it for you. Just give me is number and you will be a single woman in less than thirty seconds. Trust me, I have done this plenty of times."

"You're not going to do that," Mercedes says, shaking her head in disbelief. She's not surprised Holly has dumped people for other people before; because this is Holly. Even though Shane has done her wrong, she does respect him. And dumping someone over the phone is not showing respect at all. "I'll go ahead and do it myself."

"I don't believe you." Tina responds, not at all fazed by the harsh look Mercedes sends her.

"Neither do I," Holly agrees. She takes Mercedes' phone off her desk and hands it to Mercedes. "Okay, I won't do it, only if you call him right now and dump him."

Mercedes looks at the phone. Hold up- Holly wants her to break up with Shane at work, over the phone? She cannot possibly be serious. Yes, Shane kind of deserves this but she should at least do this in front of his face. "Holly... come on. You can't be serious."

"You think I'm joking?" Holly asks, pointing at Mercedes' phone. "Call and dump him. Right now."

Mercedes stares at the phone and reluctantly takes it. She glares at Holly as she dials Shane's number. She cannot believe she's actually doing this in front of a coworker. This takes embarrassment to the next level. "Just to let you know, dumping someone over the phone is tacky and rude."

"You know what's tacky and rude? Cheating. Come on, Ms. Jones, I don't have all day."

* * *

Figgins calls for a staff meeting because he feels that everyone may be losing their minds.

The editor-in-chief lets out a deep breath. He doesn't want to be here; he has some articles to finalize and people to call. He still hasn't approved who is going to be on next week's cover. Although Figgins loves to give lengthy lectures, he hates having board meetings. The only time he calls for one is when something happens so bad that it can potentially jeopardize the magazine company.

Emma Pillsbury, as usual, is the first to arrive. She is always punctual. She is pretty glad that Figgins has called for a board meeting; there are some pressing issues she wants to talk about especially concerning employees who have engaged in intimate activities with other employees. She knows some are married to one another- like Tina and Mike- but she wants to put an end to all potential hooking up between coworkers. It's unprofessional and Emma Pillsbury will not have any of that.

It is a limited staff meeting because there is no way a twenty by six feet conference room can completely fit fifty plus employees. The conference table stretches through the length of the room. Figgins is sitting at one end, near the back wall and Emma is sitting at the other end, near the door. Will Shuester sits on Emma's right side; he only does so because she gets nervous when he doesn't sit next to her. Jacob Israel initially wants to sit next to Holly because he thinks she's his soon-to-be girlfriend but instead wisely decides to sit next to Will due to the evil look the advice columnist gives him. Mercedes is sitting next to Sugar; she normally does not do so but she is currently annoyed with Tina and not on good terms with Kurt. Sam is sitting between Mike and Shannon Beiste, followed by Rory, Tina, and Kurt. Holly is next to Kurt.

Figgins begins as soon as everyone is in a seat and quiet, "Hello everyone. I apologize for calling this meeting in such short notice but there are some things that need to be addressed. First off, I have been receiving some complaints from various employees about story assignments. Let it be known that you are assigned to a story because the editors believe that you will do the job efficiently, not because they have a personal vendetta against you. I expect all stories to be handed to their respected editors five days prior to the finalization of the next month's issue. Any questions?"

Emma raises her hands. "This may be a bit off topic, but I would like to say something, if you don't mind." The whole table gives each other wary glances. "I would like to comment on the lack of professionalism from the members of the magazine community." She ignores the numerous groans, mostly from the Terrible Trio- Holly, Tina and Kurt. "For some reason, some of our co-workers think that having coital relations in the main staircase is appropriate."

"That's not what happened!" Mike exclaims, not noticing his wife mouthing 'shut the hell up.' "We were only having a talk."

Tina is sending daggers to the 'sexaphobic' co-editor with her eyes. She has some nerve. So what if she caught the married couple in a compromising position in the stairwell? That was a year ago and she was _supposed_ to have left work already. "I don't appreciate some people making assumptions without any basis for an argument. And I would like to point out that I think it's simply unfair that the interns have so much say about what should be in the stories. They're interns, for Pete's sake. Interns!"

Figgins think Tina hates the interns just for the sake of hating them. They have been nothing but effective even though they like to clean out the fridge in the lounge and eat Sugar's baked goods. "Just because they are interns does not mean they should be treating as subordinates. Their opinion matters too, not as much as ours, of course, but they do."

Tina, obviously not satisfied with Figgins' answer, does not say anything else.

"On to more pressing news: McKinley Employee Week will officially kick off the Monday after next," Figgins announces, quite proud to have created the idea for an employee seminar. God knows the magazine needs one after that scandal that involved a heroine ring and money laundering and the fight between three writers that resulted in a hospital and police visit- all of which he does _not_ want to talk about ever_._ "As you all may know, our very own Tina Chang has organized a week filled of fun employee-bonding activities as well as a lovely dinner at a restaurant-"

Tina cuts in, "Actually, it will be at a bar." She ignores the panicking looks from Figgins, Emma and Will. "Don't worry. It's not one of those sleazy bars. It's a really nice one not far from here. It's called Santana's Bar." She notices Sam choking on something and the horrified looks from Emma and Mercedes. "I know the owner and she is willing to have a reservation for thirty-five people with a fifty percent off discount. This includes having a room reserved for only us and food as well as drinks."

Sam wants to know how the hell Tina has managed to pull off something like this. He knows she knows Santana, but Santana rarely gives discounts on reservations, never mind cutting the price in half. He narrows his eyes. He has a funny feeling that there is more to changing the venue from a nice four star restaurant to a bar than Tina is admitting. He is going to have a little chat with Santana when he gets off work.

"I've been there before. It's pretty nice," Shannon adds in.

"I'm all for it," Mercedes says, bumping fists with Holly. She always wants to see what type of place Santana's running. Knowing Santana, there will be some debauchery present but sometimes she needs that. It gets her minds off things. Especially after telling Shane over a voice message that they're over. "And Tina's right. It's not sleazy at all."

Emma does not approve of the venue change. She thinks it's a horrible idea, horrible and completely unprofessional. These people work for one of the largest magazine companies in the country, not crazy college students who have nothing in their lives to do than drink their behinds off. It bothers her that some many people are nodding in agreement to have the dinner at a bar, of all places. "What is their alcohol policy? Will they openly serve alcohol?"

Rory snorts. "_It's a_ _bar_."

"I'm quite aware of that Mr. Flanagan," Emma replies quite harshly, well harshly for her. "But I do not think that a bar a suitable place for a large group of employees to eat at. I mean, things happen at bars. Do you really want to see people doing inappropriate things while at an employee seminar?"

"Emma has a point."

Everyone besides Emma and Figgins glare at Sam.

"The seminar will be over by then," Mike reasons, definitely feeling the idea of having the dinner at the bar. He going to need a few drinks after the drama he's been through so far and the drama doesn't even involve him. "I have no problem having it at Santana's Bar. And it's not a pub or anything. It's a lounge. A very big lounge."

"It has a dance floor too!" Sugar adds in a bit too eagerly. "The DJ is really popular."

"But why Santana's Bar of all places?" Sam whispers to Mike. He is not as enthused as the rest of his employers minus Emma.

Mike shrugs. He doesn't see the big deal- oh wait, he does.

Noticing Holly, Tina and Kurt smirking at each other, Mike instantly feels sorry for Sam and Mercedes. They cannot be this oblivious to what Tina, Holly and Kurt are trying to do. He gives Tina a look; she gives him an innocent smile that is nowhere near innocent because this is Tina he's talking about. He looks to the left where his disgruntled friend is sitting. "Well, it's not the worst that can happen. Look on the bright side, there will be beer and women," he whispers, trying to bring Sam's spirits up. It's not working. Sam sends him a dirty look.

Figgins is not a bar person. He doesn't see the fun in getting drunk especially in front of his employees. If it is his choice he would have a picnic in Central Park and that's it. But he cannot beat having a reservation at a relatively well-known bar for half the price. "Will, what do you think?"

Will unfolds his hands and sighs. He looks at the excited and devious looks on his coworkers face; they all are definitely more excited about the bar than the restaurant. "I don't see a problem." Tina lets out a sigh in relief while Emma narrows her eyes. Will shrugs at Emma. "We just have to make sure we act like rational adults. As you may know, people tend to lose their themselves when alcohol is involved."

"Well, I for one, thinks it's a terrific idea," Holly says, winking at Will who blushes in return. Emma gives the columnist a sharp look. "We need to let loose sometimes. And like Mike said, it's a lounge. Lounges are more sophisticated than your local bars."

Kurt smirks to himself. He cannot wait for next Friday. He, Tina, Mike, Holly, Brittany, Santana, Sam and Mercedes will be under the same roof for several hours. Something is going to happen; he can just feel it. Hopefully, it will be something positive. "Anyway, having dinner at restaurants is so overplayed. As long as the bar doesn't get too crazy, we should be fine."

Emma Pillsbury fidgets in her seats and gives Kurt a warning look. The fashion editor innocently shrugs. She narrows her eyes- she is seriously onto him.

Figgins sighs again. Well- what the hell? The owner is giving them a fifty percent discount on everything except for drinks. He can't beat that. "It's been decided. We will have our dinner at Santana's Bar. Tina will send out more information about all of next week's events shortly. Right, Tina?"

"Right," Tina replies excitedly.

Everyone cheers while Emma crosses her arms and pouts. Will rubs her shoulders in sympathy. The co-editor-in-chief, feeling betrayed by her maybe boyfriend, slaps away Will's hand and moves her seat closer to the edge of the table.

"Oh before I forget," Figgins says, looking down at his notepad. He cannot believe that he almost forgets about something as big as this. "We finally have a cover story for the next issue. It will feature Mercedes and Sam's story about the recent sports uniform controversy. How's the story going?"

Everyone looks at Sam and Mercedes, who are refusing to look at each other. The members of Operation Samcedes cannot get those infuriating smirks off their faces.

Mercedes nearly chokes on her gum.

"It's going fine," Sam says, giving Mercedes a quick glance. "Just fine."

"Yeah... what he said."

Mike has a strong feeling that this meeting is about to turn for the worst.

Tina wants to escape from the conference room and call Santana.

Holly wants to say something but feels that this meeting doesn't need her input to become more entertaining. She lounges back in her chair, folds her hands over her chest and watches the drama unfold in front of her.

Anyway, it seems Sugar is more than willing to take her place.

"Well, I think someone here is lying. Those." She points at Mercedes and Sam. "Two have been glaring at each other ever since they came to work." Kurt is trying to send Sugar discreet signs to _shut the hell up_, but she does not pay attention to him. "It's creating a very hostile environment in the office. I swear; it's so bad that people are choosing teams of support. That's not what I define as 'fine'."

Mercedes sends Sugar the harshest glare she has ever mustered.

"Really? Sam and Mercedes, is that true?"

Sam officially hates his job. He should have just kept his job as a stripper. Sure, it doesn't pay him as much as McKinley and he's pretty much over the whole "taking his clothes off in front horny women and gay men for money" ordeal, but it will definitely give him less grief.

Mercedes looks too angry to answer Figgins' question so Sam decides to do so. "We might have…uh bumped heads a few times..." He slowly reveals; he's not going to make out of this meeting a sane person, he's just not. "But I don't think it's a big deal. People bump heads all the time."

"Kurt, I thought you said that you wanted Sam and Mercedes to work together. That's why you gave the story up?"

Kurt groans. He likes the spotlight, just not a spotlight like this. Why does Figgins have to mention his involvement _now_? Sam and Mercedes are going at it- and not in the way he wants. He's already on Mercedes' shit list. He will be perfectly fine if he never talks about his role in this disaster.

"I thought it was a good idea at the time. I did not know anything about corporate drama. I thought since Mercedes knows about that, and Sam does sports stories that it would nice to have them work on the same story." Kurt puts his hands up in defense. "That's all. I swear to the fashion gods."

Figgins rolls his eyes. "Mercedes, what exactly is the issue with working with Sam?"

All focus is on Mercedes, who is wishing that she called in sick today.

Sam stretches the collar of his shirt because of all of a sudden he is sweating like crazy. He looks at everyone but the woman whose death list he is on, along with Kurt.

"There is none, Figgins," Mercedes replies, trying not to sound annoyed and angry. "None at all. I just wish that my partner, Kurt, had told me about this new change much sooner. I was supposed to work with _him_, since he is, you know, my _partner_."

The members of Operation: Samcedes cautiously glanced at each other.

"Oh come on, Mercedes," Sam snorts against Mike's suggestions. He is not going to just let Mercedes tell her side of the story, no matter what Mike says. "You act like I'm the worst person in this place to work with."

"I do not," Mercedes retorts. "Why are you making me look like the bad person? You are the one who overstepped your boundaries."

Mike puts his face in his hands. If Sam is trying to get Mercedes back, he is doing a _horrible_ job. Why can't the man just listen to him? Now he has just dug himself into a much bigger hole with a small possibility of coming out alive.

Tina sits up her seat. Oh snap, things are about to go down.

Kurt is sweating bullets. He has a bad feeling that Mercedes won't talk to him again. He vows never to give up a story for anyone or any reason ever again. Apparently, doing so will only get him in trouble.

He sends Tina a wary glance.

Tina shrugs in reply.

"I'm not making you- overstepping boundaries? Mercedes, I said I was I sorry."

"Sorry is not going to cut it."

"What else do you want to me to do? Quit?"

Holly wants to laugh. She really does. Those two fools really should hook up already- find a closet and release their sexual tension onto each other and live happily after. Hell, she'll even find a closet for them.

"Enough!" Figgins shouts, gaining attention from everyone in the office. He didn't want to raise his voice but this is getting way out of hand. "Look, Mercedes and Sam will write the cover story and that's final. You are two of my best writers, and I will not give up a story because of some drama you have with each other. Understand?"

"Yes," Sam and Mercedes grumble in unison.

"Well, all I have to say is that I will definitely be looking forward to reading that article. I think it will be just perfect. Two people from different areas of expertise writing a story together." Holly widely smirks at Sam and Mercedes' horrified faces; she's having way too much fun with this. "It's a match made in heaven. Quite literally."

Figgins, glad that he has finally put _that_ issue to rest, ignores Holly's last comment, neatly puts his papers in a pile and hands it to Shannon. "Meeting is adjourned."

Everyone, including, surprisingly, Emma, lets out a sigh of relief.

"Count your blessings, Hummel," Mercedes hisses as she pushes pass Kurt out of the conference room. Kurt groans and glances at Sam who is glaring at Mercedes' retreating form. This is a mess and he is going to kill Tina for making him a part of the matchmaking whatever from Hell. Kurt may have to put his Samcedes mission on hold, until he manages to get Mercedes to like him again.

Figgins leans back in his seat and watches his employees leave.

Well, the meeting went better than he had thought- minus to little fight between Mercedes and Sam but that was almost expected.

He feels a little bad that he's putting two of his writers in this position but seriously, it's not that serious; they're writing a story together, a _story_. Nothing more. Nothing less. He makes a mental note not to put Sam and Mercedes on one story for the rest of his life.

He grumbles about infuriating employees when he notices Tina trying to get out of the conference room as fast as she can. He shakes his head and calls out,

"Tina, can you please stay back for a minute?"

People tend to forget that Figgins is the editor-in-chief for a reason. He knows he is not the strictest person in the world and maybe he lets Emma dictate a lot of things, but he knows what he is doing. He knows what is going on in his office and between his employees. He knows why Tina is running around, doing everything but what she's getting paid for. He knows why Sam and Mercedes are acting the way they are and why Kurt seems to be avoiding his partner in every possible. He just doesn't want to say anything unless he has to. That's the way he is.

Unfortunately, whatever Tina is doing is getting out of hand; he has never in his life seen two people glare at each other as harshly as Sam and Mercedes.

Tina freezes at the sound of Figgins' question and gives Mike an alarmed look. Her husband does the same and shrugs before being dragged out of the boardroom by Sam- apparently he has to rant to him again. Tina curses her husband for not helping her at a time of need, turns around, pouts but tries to hide it and sits down next to her boss.

She's not going to enjoy this.

Figgins speaks up when everyone else leaves, "What is this I hear about you and Hummel conspiring to get Sam and Mercedes together?"

Tina curses out loud- bad move- and ponders how on earth can Figgins, of all people, find out? Unless... Kurt. She scowls. She knows that man cannot hold any secrets in even if his life depends on it. She needs to make up an ex- no, she should just tell the truth. Lying to her boss won't get her anywhere. "I can explain." She sighs, giving up, and confesses, though she really does not want to. "I assure you that I'm doing this for a good cause." She continues as Figgins groans and rolls his eyes. She does not expect him to believe her. "I know this sounds bad, but-"

"Does this plan have something to do with Jones-Evans joint story?"

Tina, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow her whole, can feel the suspicion rolling off of her boss. Great, he is seriously onto her.

"Yes," she admits, bowing her head in shame, ashamed of her betrayal to Operation: Samcedes. Santana will certainly not approve. "But no, not exactly." she pouts. "I don't know! But that has nothing to do with me. That was totally not my idea, I mean I knew about it, but doesn't mean I agree with it- not exactly."

Figgins lets out an aggravated sigh. This is not what he wants to hear from the copy editor. She knows better than this. He is going to have to a long talk with Kurt. "This is unprofessional," he says, feeling satisfied by the apologetic look on Tina's face. He knows Tina has a good heart; he just wishes she hasn't butted her nose into business affairs. "Very unprofessional, but this is an important story so I will not scrap it. Make sure this does not happen again. The last thing I need to have our work mixed up with schemes."

"It will not happen again."

"Make sure it does not. You are dismissed."

Tina scurries away from Figgins sight in record time.

**So I went to the library this morning to finish my four study guides for my midterms and I was really serious about it, but as always, instead of doing what I was supposed to do, I finally finished this chapter. And wrote a hell of a lot more than I anticipated. The beauty of procrastinating. **

**I know this is going by slow but don't worry, things will be getting a lot more excited in the next coming chapter. Thanks for your responses. I love them all and as always tell me what you think :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Glee or anything that is a apart of the show. If I did, every canon couple would stay canon forever and I would be super rich. I'm simply using the franchise for my own amusement.**

**_Thursday_**

Sam arrives to Santana's Bar right after work. He feels bad; he hasn't talked to Santana in the past couple of days. Granted, Santana hasn't bothered to talk to him either, but he still thinks he's being a bad friend. He had thought about coming here last night, due to that debacle that was the team meeting, but he had promised to watch the football game with Mike, so he decided to vent out to his male best friend instead.

"Nice to finally see you, Trouty mouth."

Sam sighs as he takes a seat next to the bar owner. He really cannot stand that nickname but at least Santana is not yelling at him. "Sorry about our lack of communication. The past few days have been- let's just say- a bit hectic."

"Oh I can imagine," Santana says smirking as she hands Sam a beer. It looks like he needs it. Or two. "So how's life? Anything exciting going on that I should know about? Is Rachel still after you? Do I need to call my people?"

Sam gives Santana a weary look before opening his beer. "You have no idea and no, Rachel has not called me since we ended our relationship."

"That's refreshing to know..." Santana leans in. "Come on, talk. You did not come here just to see my beautiful face. Something's up."

Sam hates that Santana has the ability to detect any of his emotions. Now he can't lie to her without getting caught. "You know Mercedes right? The one I work with?"

Santana sits up in her seat and prepares herself for a very long talk from her friend. "Yeah, sure I do. What about her?"

"Well," Sam drags out. He thinks about not telling Santana anything because she is going to take things to the next level. He knows she is but it doesn't look like she is going to let this one go. "I'm working with her on a story- it's a big story; it's next month's cover story. But due to- long story short, we're not on good terms."

"Why?" Santana narrows her eyes. Sam has a guilty look on his face. Crap, he must have messed something up. She knows the gist of the Samcedes drama, but everything she knows has come from Tina and Kurt. It pains her to admit that she doesn't know everything. She is the one who created Operation: Samcedes for heaven's sake. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did anything wrong?"

"Because you have that guilty look on your face."

"I don't have a guilty look on my face," Sam slightly frowns and drinks his beer. "All I did was reconfirmed a rumor I heard at work- by accident. Anyway, now while all of this happening- oh by the way, I'm pretty sure Mercedes' is plotting my and Kurt's murder-"

"Why would she be plotting-?"

"Because the joint story was his idea."

"Ah."

"Yeah..." Sam pauses to drink his beer some more. "So while all of this is happening, I decided to have an epiphany."

Santana raises an eyebrow and takes a bit of her sandwich. She doesn't remember Tina telling her anything about an epiphany. "Did you, now? What does this... epiphany entail?"

"I'm going to get Mercedes back."

Santana nearly spits out her sandwich pieces. Tina _definitely_ did not tell her about this. Wait- this is bad, very bad. Why can't Sam just let her and her minions do all the work? He's messing everything up. Well, there goes Operation Samcedes. And how did he manage to get an epiphany like _that_ while he was fighting with Mercedes? She decides that she will never understand what really goes on inside the brain of Sam Evans.

Okay, maybe she's going a bit overboard...

This may not be a bad thing.

"What do you mean you're going to get Mercedes back?" Santana asks, not believing what she's hearing. Sam isn't serious is he? She curses; damn it, he is. It's okay, she tells herself; he won't mess up Operation: Samcedes- at least, she hopes. "Didn't you just say that you two were on bad terms?"

"I know, I know. It sounds crazy and all…"

Santana gulps. Well damn, thanks to this interesting development, she really needs to have a meeting with all members of Operation: Samcedes. "Oh, it's not just me then."

"You think this is bad idea."

"No, not at all," Santana replies, looking around. "It's just that- I thought you said that whatever happened between you two in college was over? Where did this come from? Doesn't she have a boyfriend? Didn't you want to remain single? What the fuck is going on Sam, and why are you only telling me this now? I thought I was your best friend."

"Whoa, Santana, slow down," Sam replies, holding his hands up in because he's pretty sure Santana feels the urge to hit him. He is not expecting this reaction. He thought she would be happy for him. "I know she has a boyfriend and all, but it didn't stop me last time."

Santana clears her throat. Last time? What does he mean by that? She really not liking the fact that her friend is leaving her in the dark about important information. "Please, do tell me how you plan to pull this off?"

While Sam explains his badly formulated plan to Santana, Tina and Holly attempt to convince Mercedes that she needs to forget her now-former two-timing boyfriend and enjoy the single life. Unfortunately, Mercedes is not as enthusiastic as her coworkers...

"I still don't see how going to a club and hooking up with some random guy is supposed to make me feel better."

"I didn't say anything about hooking up with random guys," Tina says, glancing at Holly who is enjoying a disgruntled Mercedes way too much.

"Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes." Holly puts her arm around Mercedes' shoulders. She really needs to lighten up. "You need to let loose once a while. You're a brand new liberated single lady now. This is a time to celebrate. We're going to go to a bar or a club, dance our behinds off and if we're lucky, find you a boyfriend for the night-"

"_Holly_!"

"What?" She turns Mercedes towards her and says more seriously than usual. "Honey, there is nothing better than having a nice romp in the sack after a bad breakup. It's almost as good as make-up sex."

Mercedes is not impressed, but not surprised that Holly would suggest _that_ as a solution. "I will not engage in any breakup sex of any kind, thank you very much."

Holly shrugs. "It's just a suggestion." She winks at Tina. "Anyway, there is a guy that is perfect for you, once we figure out how to convince said guy to man up and-"

Tina looks at Holly with horror. It would just be her luck that Holly Holiday, of all people, would reveal Operation: Samcedes to the last person who needs to know anything right now. "_Holly_!"

Holly laughs nervous. Oh right. She isn't supposed to mention anything about Operation: Samcedes in front of Mercedes. Because that would be bad and completely derail the entire operation. "You know what? Forget everything I just said."

Mercedes glances from Holly to Tina who is currently hyperventilating. There is something going on and she does not like it one bit. "What is going- what is that supposed to mean?"

"What Holly meant to say is that you should not give up hope on love. You will find someone who will appreciate and love you and remain faithful." Tina slightly glares at Holly. "Am I right, Holly?"

Holly gives her a thumbs up. "You got it, Chang-squared."

Tina sighs. Holly's maturity, or lack thereof, astounds her. She is going to silently chide Holly for almost blowing their cover and potentially derailing Operation: Samcedes, but something- rather someone gets her attention. She waves at Kurt who is coming from the bathroom. Mercedes groans when she sees her partner- he is still on her shit list.

"Tina-" She begins.

Tina shakes her head with disapproval. Mercedes really needs to get over her hatred towards Kurt; it's starting to get old. "I don't care. Mercedes, you can't stay mad at Kurt forever. He's your partner. You two work together. You know he would only suggest you to work with Sam if he thinks it's a good idea."

"She has a point," Holly adds. "I know you think he did you wrong, but just apologize to him and get this whatever over with. Admit it; your life is boring without Kurt. No offense, Tina."

"None taken."

Less than a minute later, Mercedes finds herself in front of Kurt's desk. She crosses her arms and lets out a dramatic sigh. She wants to appear as if she is not feeling this reconciling idea- it will make her look like she is the one to blame. "I'm sorry for acting like a bitch towards you. Even though I am not backing your decision to make me work with Sam one hundred percent, there is no reason why I should have acted so hostile."

Kurt nods. This is progress. "Don't worry about it, diva. Are we friends now? Because I miss speaking to you on civil terms."

Mercedes laughs. "Of course we are. Now that we're friends again, I need you to come out with me tonight. Tina and Holly think I should celebrate my new-found singleness, and I expect some debauchery to occur."

Kurt looks back at Tina and Holly who appears to be scheming about tonight. He already feels bad for his partner. "It will be my honor to accompany you on this endeavor."

"Good. It seems that you're the only one who has some common sense."

"Where will they be taking you?"

Mercedes shrugs. "I have no clue. As long as it's not a strip club, I'm good."

Holly, who literally appears out of nowhere- she has the tendency of doing so, joins the conversation. "Don't worry. I'm reserving the strip clubs for your bachelorette party." Before Mercedes can voice her disapproval, Holly glances back and calls out, "Tina, where you will be taking us to celebrate this joyous occasion?"

Tina ponders for a bit but before she can offer a suggestion, Kurt gets an idea that may land him on Mercedes' death list once again. "Why don't we go to Santana's Bar? It's close. It's not that expensive, and I think we should check out the venue where our employee dinner will take place."

Tina raises an eyebrow in confusion. Why there of all places? She's not supposed to be there until the end of this week and anyway, it's not like she's going to meet up some guy-

Tina's eyes widen with realization. Hold up- if they go to Santana's Bar, that means that she will meet Santana, and it's eight thirty right now so that means that Sam's going to be there with Santana, and _that_ means-

Tina could not get that smirk off her face. She is convinced that Kurt is secretly an evil mad scientist who should open his own match making business.

"I think it's a splendid idea," Tina agrees, smiling at Kurt. Holly grins widely when she realizes Tina's- well, Kurt's plans. "Heck, if she's in a good mood, Santana may even give us free drinks."

"You can't beat that," Mercedes says though she has a bad feeling about going to this bar. Tina, Holly and Kurt are looking too suspicious for her liking. But she does want to see Santana again- it's been too long.

"Then it's settled!" Tina announces, grabbing her coat. "We will be going to Santana's bar to celebrate this monumental moment in Mercedes' life."

Mercedes reluctantly grabs her thinks. She knows she should be happy that she's dumped Shane after all he's put her through, but celebrating when she has to be back at the office at seven am? This is certain not appealing to her, but she knows that even if she says no, the terrible trio won't let her go home in peace.

**This is more of a filler chapter- just leading up for the drama that is going to occur in the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews etc- they bring smiles to my face and don't forget to send me some feedback even though there really isn't anything going on in this chapter. :D :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Me don't own; you don't sue. If I owned Glee, Mercedes and Sam would at least have some sort of decent interaction in season four.**

Santana really wished Tina had told her that she was bringing Mercedes to her bar. Then, she could formulate a well thought out plan and not have a mini-heart attack when she saw her three minions- although she had not met the new addition to Operation: Samcedes, the blond haired woman was still considered one of her minions- walking through the bar doors.

She curses when she realizes that the four are approaching her. She's not prepared for this; she's had a plan- a pretty good plan- and now here comes Tina, messing everything up. She quickly glances at Sam who is finishing the last of his beer; she orders her friend a beer. When Sam sends her a questioning but thankful look, Santana pats his shoulder and simply says, "You'll thank me later."

Before Sam can question just what on earth did Santana mean by that, the Latina slides off her bar stool and walks towards her friends. She is going to kill Tina for this- wait, no. She can't kill Tina. This may not be a bad thing, Mercedes being here. Santana covers her mouth with realization; why didn't she think of this before? Damn, Tina needs to switch careers to match maker pronto.

"Santana!" She hears Tina calling out, pushing through the growing crowd- Santana hired DJ Puck for just this night; she was starting to regret it. "Santana, over here!"

Santana rolls her eyes when she finally reaches the group. "Are you trying to kill my ear drums?" She smiles at Mercedes who is standing behind Tina as if she wants to hide from the bar owner- which isn't working, at all. "Well, well, well, what a splendid surprise, and how are you Mercedes?"

Mercedes laughs. "My god, it has been a while." She comes out from behind Tina and gives Santana a hug; she ignores the look of slight grimace on Santana's face. She laughs even more; so it seems that Santana still doesn't like being hugged. "I'm great."

Holly pushes her way into the front of the group. "Hello, my name is Holly Holliday. I work with these two." She points at Kurt and Tina, who are both grinning widely. "And Mercedes and Sam. It is so nice to finally meet you."

Santana smirks at Holly. Oh yes, Tina has told her many things about this woman. If everything she has heard is true, Holly will certainly be an important asset to Operation: Samcedes. "Nice to meet you too," Santana says rubbing her hands together. Tonight is definitely going to be interesting. "Come on, ladies and Kurt, I'll give you some free drinks. I can already tell it's going to be a long night."

Santana winks at Mercedes.

Mercedes narrows his eyes. She contemplates leaving the bar. The look in Santana's eyes unnerves her; the Latina is up to something and she has a sinking feeling that it has something to with him. But- she's getting free drinks. She cannot miss that opportunity.

Santana cannot help but snicker as she leads the group to the bar. She cannot wait to see Sam's reaction when he notices Mercedes. He will probably panic, Santana thinks grimly, but maybe he'll surprise her. He claims he's serious about winning Mercedes' heart. Maybe, just maybe, he will grow some balls and do something about his love life.

The chances are highly unlikely, but Santana wants to give Sam the benefit of the doubt.

Sam is right where Santana's left him. It looks like he's finished with his beer.

Santana grins; good, she does not have to worry about Sam spitting out any beer when Mercedes reaches him. She is on a mission and she does not want to it to derail because of a bar fight. Santana looks back at Mercedes who is engrossed in a conversation with Kurt.

Oh nice, they're getting along now.

Sam wonders where Santana has run off to. She claimed that she would come back in a couple minutes- it's now ten, not that he has been counting. He pushes his empty beer bottle aside; he seriously thinks about leaving the bar to go home and watch some movies while he formulates his Mercedes plan that won't backfire. He is about to slide off the stool when he hears Santana call out-

"Oh, Sam! Look who I found!"

Sam turns around and freezes.

This _cannot_ be happening.

If Santana was not such a good friend, she would have laughed at the look on Sam's face.

She can feel his panic attack coming. Now, this may seem bad, but she has no intention to watch Sam have a heart attack. She only wants him to have a conversation with Mercedes without chickening out; that's all.

Sam's still in shock.

Santana slightly frowns. Maybe this is too much for Sam to handle right now. He's never good with surprises. Maybe she should have not called out to Sam; Mercedes is giving her suspicious looks.

"Why is Sam here?" Mercedes croaks out, retreating from the group because she only wants to deal with Sam Evans in the confines of McKinley's office building. She glances at her coworkers who only shrug. "Santana?"

Santana turns her attention to the woman next to her. Well, Mercedes is handling this much better than Sam, which does not say much. At least she does not sound that mad. "He's a frequent customer. Come on, let's say hello to him. I don't want him to think I'm abandoning him."

Tina, Kurt and Holly follow Santana while Mercedes slowly walks behind them. God, she does not want to be here; she is going to kill her coworkers for dragging her to the bar. She didn't even want to go!

"Hi, Sam," is the first thing Santana say as she sits in the stool next to him. She flashes him a wide smile because she cannot believe that this moment has finally come. The man can't back down now. "How are you?"

Sam is not paying attention to Sam. Instead, he is staring at Mercedes like it is the first time he has seen her. He swallows hard. Why is Mercedes here? Santana never told him about this. He turns around and immediately orders another beer. This isn't good. This isn't good at all.

Mercedes is not much better, but she is not visibly panicking like Sam. She lets out a sigh. She forces out a smile because even though she does not want to see Sam, she doesn't want to be rude. "Hello, Sam," she says quickly glancing at Kurt and Tina who refuse to look at her. She has a bad feeling that her two friends have something to do with this. "I was not expecting you to be here."

"Likewise," Sam croaks out because he honestly does not know what else to say. He wishes that Santana told him about her plans to bring Mercedes to him much earlier.

Santana rolls her eyes. Great, Sam is freeing up. She nudges Mercedes who seems to be in a daze. They are both idiots, Santana concludes before asking, "Do you want a drink?"

"Sure," Mercedes quietly replies, looking at everyone and everything but Sam, who is also doing the same thing. She sits in a stool, purposely ignoring the seats next to Sam. She can't sit that close to him; it would only create more problems.

"We should give them some space," Kurt whispers, pointing his head to the opposite side of the bar. Santana, Tina and Holly get the message and slowly and quietly retreat from the bar. Kurt's right; they should leave Mercedes and Sam to themselves; maybe they can sort some things out.

Of course that does not happen.

Sam and Mercedes do not say or do anything for more than twenty minutes.

"This is not working," Tina complains to Santana.

The bar owner glares at Tina. Why must she constantly state the obvious? Of course she is aware that Sam and Mercedes are sitting ducks. There are not saying anything, not even attempting a small conversation. It's like they are purposely refusing to notice each other.

Santana throws her hands up. She gives up. Sam is hopeless, nothing more, nothing less. He has a perfect opportunity to make on Mercedes and of course, instead of doing what he is supposed to do, he screws up by being in complete shock.

Why does always have to do everything herself? She slams her water down and approaches the couple. So they don't want to acknowledge other's presence? Fine. She will just have to force them to.

She sits between Sam and Mercedes, glancing between her neighbors. Idiots, is the only thing she can call them, complete and total idiots. "So," she begins breaking the long awkward silence. "I heard that you two are writing a story together. That's great."

"Yes," Mercedes responds, playing with her mini umbrella in her drink. She gives Sam and quick look and rolls her eyes. "Absolutely terrific."

Sam does not say anything; he only takes a sip of his beer.

Santana is tempted to hit him upside the head with the beer bottle but gets an even better idea. "Look, I don't know that much about journalism. But I am pretty sure that in order to work on a project together, you actually have to talk to one another. Civilly."

She does not acknowledge Sam's icy glare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mercedes says, finishing the rest of her drink. She wants to leave but her car is parked in McKinley's parking garage. Holly insisted that she drove everyone to Santana's bar. Mercedes is not going to spend more money to get home because of Sam. "We talk all the time."

To prove her point she gives Sam a small smile and says, "How are you tonight, Sam?"

Sam blinks. Is he supposed to answer that? He clears his throat and responds, "Fine, how are you?"

"I'm good." She gives Santana a pointed look. "See? We have talked."

Santana wonders if Mercedes is as dumb as Sam.

"No," Santana says, shaking her head furiously. "This is not talking. This is being awkward and I do not tolerate awkwardness in my bar, so you two better figure something out. Your attitudes are scaring off my customers."

"We don't have an attitude."

Santana narrows her eyes and shots back with, "Shut up, Sam."

She receives a dirty look from Sam and Mercedes.

Santana makes herself comfortable, knowing that there is a large chance that it's going to take all of his energy to get her point across. She orders another glass of water and says after taking a long sip, "Okay, now I know I am not a mediator but since you two cannot have a decent discussion, I am going to have to facilitate it for you." She pauses. "What the hell is going on between you two?"

Sam and Mercedes only glance at each other because they like to make things difficult for everyone.

Santana growls, "Oh my god. I am not asking you to cut off your arms. Just talk, damn it!"

"There is nothing to talk about," Mercedes states, wishing Holly pops out of wherever she's hiding and demand her coworkers to leave this place; believe it or not, Holly is the designated driver. Speaking of coworkers, she wonders where Tina and Kurt went.

"Bullshit," Santana spits out, because that is all what this mess is: bullshit. "I'm not stupid. I know there's something weird going on between you two. Giving other dirty looks isn't going to make things better. Trust me, I would know. If you two don't sort your shit out, I will make you pay for all of your drinks and an entrance fee."

Mercedes frowns.

Sam snorts. "You don't have an entrance fee, Santana."

Santana has just about had it with Sam correcting her. She knows how she runs her bar; she doesn't need him to remind her. "Well, it looks like I will have to make one up, doesn't it?"

_"Boss Lopez!"_

Santana groans and turns around only to see one of her bartenders, running towards her. She shakes her head. Why do people want to bother her when she's busy? Because she is a good employer, she decides that she should figure out what is going on.

She directs her attention to Sam and Mercedes. "As amazing as this one-sided conversation is, I must leave to do my job." She slides off her stool and give the couple and hard look before she leaves. "You guys need to talk out your issues. Big time. And don't think I'm kidding about paying for everything."

Sam watches Santana leave and frowns. He hates when Santana is right. He cannot keep acting like this; he is supposed to win Mercedes back, for heaven's sake. He finishes off his second beer. He can do this; all he has to do is what Santana has suggested: talk to her.

"Why are you here, exactly?"

"I broke up with Shane," Mercedes reluctantly answers. She hates talking to Sam about Shane. "That's the only reason why I'm out the house. Tina said I should celebrate my new-found happiness." She scoffs. "If that was what she wanted, she shouldn't have brought me here."

"You could have said no. You're exceptionally good at that."

Mercedes glares at him.

"Santana's right, you know," Sam starts up then pauses as soon as Mercedes slowly turns to look at him. "We've known each other for far too long to be acting like… this."

Mercedes raises an eyebrow. "We don't know each other very well. No, we did- but that was in college. We graduated five years ago."

"Mercy- don't start this again."

"It's Mercedes, thank you," Mercedes grumbles. She calls the bartender and asks for another drink. "And I don't see anything wrong with the way we are acting. We're cordial and professional. That's good enough."

Sam groans. This is going to be a lot harder that he has anticipated. Maybe Mercedes is right. They aren't yelling at each other like the way they did that night in the café. "You know that's not true…"

Mercedes sighs. She has a gut feeling that Santana won't let her leave the bar until she settles whatever issue she has with Sam- but that's the thing. There isn't an issue. Is she the only person who is aware of this?

Maybe she should apologize- yes, that plan always worked. She hasn't been the nicest person to her coworkers and most of it isn't Sam's fault. "Hey, I just want to apologize for my behavior lately. It's uncalled for. It's just that- you have a hard time letting things go-"

"What are you talking about?"

No, seriously, what is she talking about? If there is one thing Sam is good at besides being in denial, it's intentionally forgetting things and making believe that they do not exist.

Mercedes gives him a look. He cannot be serious. He cannot be this dense. "I know you're still mad about me moving right after graduation without giving you any notice."

Sam gulps. Well, she isn't lying, but in his defense, she should have told him something. "Can you blame me? You just packed up your things and left. No, goodbye. No, phone call. No, nothing."

Mercedes has to admit; he does have a point. She should have told him, instead of leaving him in the dark. But she was afraid- afraid that Sam could and would convince her to stay with him and she would agree. "I had to leave because of an emergency-"

"You're lying."

"I didn't leave because I hated you- I never could hate you. I left because we were finished with school and Shane wanted me to live closer to him." Mercedes scowls. Damn it. He knows her, a lot more that she wishes. " And I'm not a liar. I had to move immediately. I'm sorry I didn't tell you-"

"You could've still called."

Mercedes sucks her teeth and finishes off her drink. She knows what directions this conversation will lead to. She does not have the time or the patience to have a heart-to-heart with Sam. She is supposed to have fun and forget her problems, not talk about them to the one person who has done nothing but bring more drama into her life.

"I understand if you couldn't stand me so you wanted to move, but-"

"Oh come on, you knew it had nothing to do with that. I needed to move. It would've made my life easier and I thought it would be a better idea to move in with Shane."

Sam grumbles under his breath when he hears Shane's name. That asshole, that cheating bastard. "You never told me that."

Mercedes gives him a look. "I wasn't aware I have to tell you everything, especially about why I was moving. I thought the reason was obvious."

"You didn't-"

"Sam, come on, I was seriously dating Shane. He, as well as I, didn't think it would be appropriate for me to live with another man whom I-"

"I-what?"

"Shane assumed that there was more between us," Mercedes quietly admits. This is not the time or the place to talk about what happened in college. She is so over that.

"Really?" Sam has to laugh at that. Now that is a good one. Mercedes had made it clear in college that their relationship was strictly platonic; she even gave him a speech about how it would never work and how they wouldn't be together and all of that crap. "Now that's funny."

Mercedes fumes. "Now why does that have to funny?"

* * *

Tina, Santana, Holly and Kurt lean back on the opposite site of the bar and continue to watch the disaster that is Plan C. Everything was going good until Sam opened his mouth and made Mercedes mad; it does not look like Sam and Mercedes will end their shouting match anytime soon. The members of Operation: Samcedes cannot understand what the couple can possibly be arguing about now.

Tina slaps her forehead and groans as she watches Sam's face literally becomes the color of a tomato from anger. "This is a disaster!"

Santana huffs. Those two are getting on her last nerves; even more than usual. Why can't they just get together and make everyone's lives easier? This is what she gets for caring about other people too damn much.

"Why can't they just talk like normal human beings?" Holly asks because seriously, they work together; they are doing a cover story together. Sam cannot be that flustered when his coworker is around. "And Mercedes? What the hell is up with her? It looks like she wants to be anywhere but sitting next to Sam."

"Because they're dumbasses," Santana replies, gritting her teeth together.

Kurt just sips his drink. "Look on the bright side; they seemed to be letting out some steam. This can be good for them."

Tina, Holly and Santana give Kurt a dirty look.

"There is nothing good about this!"

Santana curses under her breath because she is sick and tired of playing matchmaker for a couple of idiots.

"What should we do?"

She shoots the fighting duo a heated glare before turning her attention to her henchmen. "Since those two fools don't know how to get along for longer than five minutes, we need to initiate Plan D."

The unofficial Plan C is falling apart right before her eyes.

She frowns a bit. She really doesn't want to resort the plan especially when she notices the confused look on her partner-in-crimes' faces. "We need to get someone jealous. That's the only way."

"You mean only Mercedes, right?" Kurt inquires, watching Sam and Mercedes yell at each other; they're a mess. "Because Sam wants her back so we can't use him?"

Santana, still frowning, does not respond.

"Wait-" Tina says because she always has the best ideas. "We can do both Mercedes and Sam," she continues as everyone looks at her puzzled. Santana is looking at her as if she has lost her mind. This may work, Tina says to herself, she may die, but this can work. "

"That's not a bad idea..." Kurt mumbles.

Holly agrees. "I know Sam said that he's going to get Mercedes back but so far, he has no clue what he's doing. We can divert his attention from getting Mercedes back by setting him up with another person- who knows about this plan and has no interest in him, of course. They can get jealous of each other; it has to work."

Tina suddenly does not feel too confident about her plan. There are so many flaws. What if Sam and Mercedes fall in love with someone else? Then all of their hard work will be for nothing.

"Now that I think about it, I don't this is a good idea…"

Everyone ignores Tina's comment.

Santana frowns and crosses her arms, deep in thought. It looks like she has no choice. Not even alcohol can save Sam and Mercedes. "But we need people we can trust-"

"What we really need is a gay and a lesbian," Holly says. "Who do not 'look' or act like a gay or a lesbian. That way we know for sure they will not be interested in Mercedes and Sam."

"What about Brittany?" Kurt suggests, earning a glare from Santana. He shrugs. It sounds like a terrific idea in his head. "She's a part of Operation: Samcedes. And Sam does not really know her verywell."

Tina decides she will not give her input because she is pretty sure this "amazing plan" is going to backfire horribly.

"That may not be a bad idea…"

Santana looks at Kurt and Holly in horror. "You want to have my girlfriend go out with Sam? She's not a full lesbian, you know."

"It's for a good cause," Holly reasons.

Kurt rolls her eyes. "Brittany's a part of Operation: Samcedes. I'm positive that she qualifies for the job."

Tina raises an eyebrow in confusion. "You two aren't dating…"

"Shut up, Tina."

"I like it!" Holly shouts excitedly. "Maybe she can knock some sense into him and get Mercedes jealous. Because I am tired of seeing those two idiots scream at each other."

"It's settled," Kurt announces, glancing back at the bickering couple. He shakes her heads. "Brittany will be Sam's fake girlfriend. All we need to is find Mercedes a fake boyfriend."

Tina groans.

Santana rolls her eyes and wishes she can hire a cupid or something.

Holly, all of a sudden, gets an idea, which in her opinion, is the most amazing idea she has thought of today. She slowly smirks at her teammates. "Have no fear, Kurt. I have the perfect person."

Tina groans again. This is not going to end well. She can feel it. She only hopes Sam and Mercedes can figure them when all of this is over.

**I apologize for not updating in a while; I had massive writer's block with this story. I will try to update by the end of next week. As always, tell me what you think.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters. I am simply using them for my own amusement. Do not sue.**

**_Friday_**

At seven o'clock, Santana calls for a meeting with Operation: Samcedes, including Mike who has been missing in action for the past few days, that takes place in a coffee shop across the street from Santana's Bar. The main focus of the meeting is to discuss the travesty of last night that was Samcedes, or lack thereof. Although the matchmaking team plans to initiate Plan D, they must create future plans just in case the jealously plan backfires- Tina gives the team five days before they will have no choice but to initiate Plan E.

Mike is also not happy about the jealously plan. He sees way too many flaws in Plan D, even more than Plan B- which was to get Sam and Mercedes drunk.

"What the hell happened last night?" Mike asks, trying to understand why he has to miss his_ Law and Order: SV_U marathon- he refuses to admit that he has a little, insignificant crush on the female detective- because his coworkers want to play cupid.

"Sam didn't tell you?"

Mike gives Holly a look, wondering why on earth Tina thought it was a good idea to include Holly in anything. "No. He didn't. He wouldn't pick up his phone."

"Let's just say that Sam's plan to get Mercedes back was a failure."

"An epic failure," Kurt adds, burying his head in his hands.

Mike frowns; that does not answer his questions.

Holly sighs; she supposes that she should fill Mike in about last night's incident in Santana's Bar. "Plan C happened," she dramatically pauses. "We thought it would be a good idea to bring Mercedes to Santana's Bar to celebrate her new relationship status and to meet up with Sam who just happened to be there, but we didn't tell her that-"

Tina cuts in. "Let's just say that the night went downhill from the moment Mercedes and Sam locked eyes. Putting alcohol between two people who seem to have a lot of unresolved issues is a very bad idea."

"And what was that about anyway?" Kurt asks, getting mad all over again. "All I heard them shouting were about moving to some place and Shane."

"Yeah," Santana adds. "Sam seems pretty upset about Mercedes moving."

Brittany is becoming more intrigued by the second. Oh she wishes that Sue hadn't made the Cheerios practice longer last night.

"I think it's quite obvious that Sam does not think much of Shane," Holly comments, remembering her coworkers' very _interesting_ argument- in her humble opinion, sexual tension at its best. "And it's quite obvious that Mercedes can't lie for shit."

"I _know_!" Tina says. "I was shaking my head the entire time. She knows that she didn't move out because of Shane. she had only started dating him a few weeks before graduation. Something else went on."

"I agree," Holly says. "I'm about one hundred and twenty-five percent sure that there is more to Sam and Mercedes' college relationship than being roommates and fuck buddies."

Mike spits out his tea.

"What are you suggesting then?" Kurt asks, afraid to hear the answer.

"Well they _were_ sleeping together for four years," Santana narrows her eyes. "I thought you knew that already?"

Brittany scrunches her face in confusion. "Wait- I thought they were dating?"

Holly shrugs. "Same thing."

Mike decides that he is not going to get involved in this conversation.

Santana slams her coffee mug down. "Okay, moving on. What have we learned from last night's events?"

"That Mercedes and Sam are complete dumbasses and they should be locked in a closet- that can only be locked from the outside, and be sprayed with aphrodisiacs."

Everyone looks at Tina, debating if she is seriously about the aphrodisiacs. Mike does not let it pass Tina; she would do something like that.

"Thank you, Tina," Santana says, rolling her eyes, though the aphrodisiacs idea may not be a bad one; she will save that for Plan F. "Anyway. I have learned that this matchmaking operation is a fucking bitch."

"Well I could have told you that," Mike comments while stealing Tina's crackers. "I told you that from the very beginning."

"No one asked you," Tina snaps, pushing her plate from out of her husband's reach. "Carry on, Santana."

"As I was saying, if we are going to make this operation successful, we have to go to the next level, and that level is Plan D."

Tina groans.

Holly nods in agreement. "I think we can pull this off."

"Thank you." Santana smirks. "I already talked to Brittany about being Sam's fake girlfriend. She has agreed."

Brittany, who has not said a word since the meeting started, raises her hands and asks, "Do you really think this is a wise idea? I mean, like Tina's mentioned way too many times, this is our riskiest plan yet. What if Mercedes fall in love with her fake boyfriend?"

Everyone exchanges wary looks, except for Holly but she always have an answer to everything.

"That's why we are hooking her up with a gay."

Mike puts his head on the small table. He can see the plan crashing down in flames already.

"But what if she falls in love with the gay guy who is supposed to play her boyfriend?" Brittany asks more urgently. "It's not like she's going to know the guy is gay when she dates him. That will completely defeat the whole purpose."

"What if Sam falls in love with you?" Holly asks, ignoring the mean looks from Santana.

Santana frowns deeply. Fuck, she hasn't thought about that.

"Well, that won't happen because Sam's in love with Mercedes," Kurt adds. "But we do have a problem: Holly's pick for Mercedes' boyfriend is not convincing enough."

"I think Blaine Anderson is a very attractive man, thank you very much," Holly shots back, frowning a bit at Kurt. Okay, maybe Kurt has a point. Although Blaine is not nearly as flamboyant as Kurt, he does have some 'homosexual' tendencies. Holly frowns at the thought. Damn, she sounds like a bigot.

"I love Blaine and all. He's a terrific reporter and has no problem getting his hands dirty," Tina says. Even though she does not agree with the plan, she may as well make it the best as she can. "But he can't handle Mercedes; not at that level. They can be good friends, but that's about it."

"She has a point," Mike says.

"We need some serious competition," Kurt says, smirking at everyone because he has the best idea in the universe. Now, there is a slight chance that his choice but not be gay- but he thinks he's at least bisexual, which should count for something. And he knows Blaine very well. "What about Sebastian?"

Mike chokes on his crackers.

Tina gives Kurt a sharp look as she slaps Mike's upper back in an attempt to make him stop choking.

Brittany claps and wonders why she hasn't thought about him before.

Holly hates the fact that Kurt may be right.

Santana is just confused. "Who?"

"Sebastian, as in Sebastian Smythe," Tina answers, debating whether or not Kurt has lost his mind.

"I don't know who he is…"

"You do not know who Sebastian Smythe is?" Kurt asks horrified. He then decides that he has to drag Santana to the Paris Fashion Week in the spring and introduce her to the fashion world.

Santana does not appreciate Kurt's questions.

Holly looks at Kurt as if she has fallen in love. She will have to hug him before she leaves. "He's a male model. Very popular in the fashion world. I think he models for Bottega Veneta and um… Givenchy?" She lets out an appreciative laugh. "I have to say Kurt; that's one hell of a choice. And he's hot. Really hot. I mean, if it wasn't for the fact that he bats for another team, I would have jumped on that so fast that-"

Brittany leans in Kurt's direction and asks, cutting Holly off, "But the important question is, is he _gay_?"

Kurt bites his lip and shrugs. "I don't know for sure, but they're rumors spreading around stating that he has had a relationship or whatever with Blaine. But don't worry I have everything under control. He owes me a little favor and he's in New York for the next few months, so this can work.

"But-" Tina says, in shock. "How?"

"One of the many benefits of being a fashion editor of a magazine," Kurt proudly says, giving everyone a triumphant smile. "I have connections. Just give me a confirmation and I can get Mercedes' a new fake lover in less than three hours."

"We should go for it," Holly says. "If Sebastian does not work, we'll just find another one."

Tina gulps. "I heard he has a horrible attitude and can be an asshole. Mercedes is not going to tolerate that."

"She has a point," Mike agrees again, thinking- with horror- that he has agreed with Tina way too many times in a short amount of time.

Santana leans back in her chair. Mercedes dating a model. Well, that would certainly generate a lot of buzz from the media. Therefore Sam will be able to figure the relationship out very easily. "Okay, we'll try your boy. But warn him that he needs to stop with the attitude before Mercedes does it for him."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Mike warns. "Sam will not take this well. At all."

"That's the whole point," Santana says, rolling her eyes.

Holly smirks. "Alright how are we going to do this? Are we going to make it a blind date? Have Mercedes and Sam meet Sebastian and Brittany at an event?"

"I think Brittany and Sam should meet on a blind date," Santana suggests. "This is Sam we're talking about. We can't make things too complicated; he tends to fold under pressure and complexity."

"We should do the date on Monday," Brittany says. "We should start this early."

"Good."

"We're forgetting the fact that Sam is still in love with Mercedes."

Holly scoffs at Mike. "We are perfectly aware of that, unless…" she pauses and bites her lips. "Why don't we let Sam in our little plan?"

Everyone looks at Holly as if she is going crazy.

Holly sighs. "Here me out; Sam wants Mercedes back, right? Well, this can be a part of his plan and he still doesn't have to know about Operation: Samcedes. He and Brittany can make their relationship convincing if both of them knows what is going on. We should definitely tell Sam- I mean, if there is someone who knows how to press Mercedes' buttons, it'll be Sam."

"I like that plan," Brittany says feeling better. "Instead of a blind date, I'll meet up with Sam at his job to discuss our plan- without everyone else finding out of course, and make sure Mercedes sees us."

Santana folds her arms. This is good; this can actually work. "Okay. We tell Sam about the plan, but only his part. We can't let Sam know that we are playing the same game with him."

Tina and Mike exchange cautious looks.

Holly rubs her hands together. "Kurt, what are your plans for Mercedes?"

"Well," Kurt begins. "There will be a party downtown the day after tomorrow. Sebastian is going to be there and I got an invite. I'll just take Mercedes as a date. She'll say yes; she loves fashion parties."

"And don't forget about our Seminar Party." Holly reminds everyone because she's pretty sure everyone has forgotten and from the looks on her tablemates' faces, she's right.

"Oh shit, I forgot about that!" Tina exclaims. "Wait- what plan is that?"

"That was Plan B," Santana answers, "But we'll deal with that later. Okay. This is what we're going to do: I'm going to let Sam know about his part of the plan. If everything goes well, Brittany and him will meet up and start fake dating. Then, Mercedes will be invited to a party where Sebastian will be; hopefully, some sparks will fly. We will formulate Plan J through L right before the Seminar party. Good?"

Tina, Brittany claps in excitement.

"Good."

Tina and Mike once again exchange cautious looks; this is going not going to end well.

They can feel it.

**Nothing much going on; but things will happen in the next chapter. I just wanted to explain how the plan is going to work. I will update in the next two weeks. **

**Thank you all for the reviews. I past fifty :D. As usual, feel free to leave a comment. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its character or anything mentioned that is owned by someone else. **

**_Monday_**

Sam cannot believe he's agreed to this- this- insanity.

No, it's pretty believable at the time but if anyone asks, it's not his fault. If someone needs to be blamed it should be Santana. She took advantage of his weakened state. She had persuaded him that fake dating his best friend's maybe girlfriend to get Mercedes jealous was a good idea.

He loosens up his tie and sighs. Maybe Mike's right. Maybe he should tell Santana to get out of his love life, fix hers and leave all Mercedes-related drama to him.

"It's not too late to turn back."

Sam looks at Mike and shakes his head. Although there is a small part, a rational part, constantly reminding him all of the disadvantages of doing this, a much bigger part wants him to do it.

It can't be that bad, Sam says to himself, attempting to convince himself that the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages- so far, it hasn't been working.

"No, I can't turn back now. I won't hear the end of it from Santana."

"Santana's your friend, not your mother. You know you can say no, right?"

Sam frowns at his best friend. See, this is the downside of having a friend who thinks rationally almost all the time. "I know that, but I can't do this alone. If you haven't noticed, we don't get anything done when we're left alone."

"Yeah, you two have a serious problem with having a decent conversation that does not include yelling."

"It wasn't my fault this time."

"You said that last time."

"But it's true."

Tina tries to hear Mike and Sam's conversation from her desk. Of course, she is at the other side of the office and the place is pretty loud; many of the smaller articles are due today so many people are running around like chickens without heads. Tina frowns as she attempts to move her desk forward, but the damn thing refuses to move.

She curses and flops back in her chair, crossing her arms and pouting. She thinks about texting Mike and asking him to give her updates about Sam, but she highly doubts he would do so.

"And you think dating someone else is going to get Mercedes back, how?"

"All I have to do is pretend that I'm dating Brittany for a week or two and hopefully get Mercedes jealous. Now before you protest, I'm perfectly aware of the risks, but this is least dangerous plan."

Mikes shakes his head.

"Man, I'm serious. Brittany knows about the entire thing."

"Mercedes is not the jealous type," Mike reminds him, thanking about why Santana should never been in the match making business; this whole ordeal is a disaster waiting to happen. "You said that yourself."

Sam leans back in his seat- thank god for reclining chairs- and deeply frowns. Crap, Mike has a point. Mercedes won't get jealous about him simply seeing Brittany. He may need to step things up a bit. "It doesn't hurt to try. Oh, can you do me a favor? Tell me when you see Brittany. She's supposed to be here in fifteen minutes."

According to the provisions of Plan D, Brittany was supposed to come to McKinley yesterday, but she had to go to work early and Sue didn't let the Cheerios out of the dance studio until eight pm- they needed to prepare for the opening night of their Broadway performance. It wasn't a big deal; one day wasn't going to change anything.

Mike shakes his head again. He needs to stop being involved in things he doesn't want to do; this is all Tina's fault, he concludes, damn her and her persuasive skills. "Sure," he says because he knows he can't get out of this. "I'll let you know."

Sam smiles and pats Mike's back. "Thanks, man."

* * *

Tina texts Kurt and Holly and requests for a quick meeting near the vending machines. As soon as her coworkers reply yes, she rises from her seats and rushes to the other side of the room, without looking suspicious- no, she does not realize the annoyed look her husband is sending her.

"Thanks for being here," Tina says, trying to catch her breath. She may or may not have run to the vending machines. "We need to talk about what'll happen tomorrow night."

Holly and Kurt exchange looks; they thought they've discussed everything already.

"What do you mean-?"

Tina rubs her hands together and glances at Mercedes, who is downing another bag of chips. "We need to make sure tomorrow night does not end in disaster. If you haven't noticed, we do not have a good track record with our plans. If we want to pull this off, we can't make mistakes."

Kurt takes a bite out of the apple in his hand and gives Tina a puzzled look. "Wait- Tina, you don't even want to be a part of Plan D."

Tina crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "I don't. But since I am sort of the mastermind behind Operation: Samcedes, I suppose I have to help you guys get dumb and dumber jealous."

Holly claps her hands. "See? I told you Tina'll eventually come around. Now about those invitations..."

"Well, you ladies don't have to worry about a thing. I have everything under control. Sebastian has agreed to all of the terms and persuading the party coordinators to allow Mercedes to come to the party with me was a piece of cake."

Tina looks unconvinced. "I'm sure you do, but we all have to be at the party," she continues as Kurt's expression turns into horror. "We have to make sure everything goes according to plan."

Holly nods in agreement.

Kurt groans and shakes his head. He should have known that Tina would want to come to the party. And he is pretty sure Holly wants to also. "Tina, Holly, I know what you're saying but it was hard enough for me to get Mercedes in. People will start to become suspicious when they find out that I'm bringing in people from my job. This is an exclusive party, you know."

Holly rolls her eyes.

"Come on, Kurt," Tina begs. "We _have_ to be at that party. What if Mercedes does not like Sebastian? What if his cover is blown? Do you _really_ want to deal with that shit storm alone?"

Holly gives Kurt a puppy-dog look; she even juts out her bottom lip.

Kurt groans again. The party planner is going to kill him and now he has to make up some excuse to bring Tina and Holly. But Tina has a good point; he won't be able to handle anything if Mercedes sees through the plan. "Ugh, fine. But you two owe me big time."

Holly and Tina high-five each other and give Kurt a bone crushing hug.

Tina can hardly contain her excitement when she sees Brittany stroll through the office doors, talk the receptionist and walk towards Sam's desk. She widely smiles.

Part one of Plan D is officially in effect.

* * *

Mike elbows Sam and points at Brittany. "She's here. Don't screw this up."

Sam glares at him. "Shut up. I know what I'm doing, thank you. Is Mercedes watching?"

Mike takes a sip of his coffee and sighs as he looks back at Mercedes. She is talking to Holly and does not look like she's paying attention to Brittany. "She's talking to Holly."

"Okay, good." Sam blinks. "Wait- what should I do?'

Mike groans and rubs his forehead. He needs a new best friend, one who actually plans ahead. "How am I supposed to know? This is your plan."

"But should I go up to her and say hi? Or should I just wait for Brittany to come here?"

Mike groans again because only these things happen to him. "You want to get Mercedes' attention, right? So go up to Brittany and look interested."

Brittany ignores the mean looks from Mercedes. As far as she's concerned, receiving mean looks is a good thing. This means that there is a chance that Mercedes may become jealous. She smiles brightly as Sam reaches her. She spread of arms out wide and gives him a hug, right in the middle of the office, for everyone to see, including Mercedes, who may or may not be angry.

"Oh Sam, it's been too long!" She almost yells, squeezing the man in her arms even harder. "I'm so sorry about cancelling the date last night. You know how Sue is; she can go overboard sometimes."

"It's okay, Brit," Sam says, after finally being able to get out of his fake girlfriend's grasp. "I completely understand. Are you free tonight? We can go to that new Italian restaurant on Eighth Avenue."

Brittany squeals as she gives Sam another tight hug.

Mercedes, reluctantly watching the whole exchange, not because she is curious to why Sam is hugging another woman who isn't her, but because she is bored and when she's bored, she people watches, leans back in her seat and opens a new bag of chips.

"Who's _she_?" Mercedes asks, knowing the answer because she used to be friends with her. She sounds a lot more annoyed that she wants. She hopes Holly does not catch her tone; she would not hear the end of it.

Of course Holly does. She tries to hide her grin with her hand and replies, "Brittany Pierce. She's a part of the Cheerios."

"That's nice, but what is she doing here?"

Holly glances back at the 'couple' and shrugs. "Beats me. Maybe someone's doing a story on her. Oh, how foolish of me, I know why she's here. I believe she's seeing Sam."

"Excuse me?" Mercedes narrows her eyes. "What do you mean by _seeing?"_

"You know, going out. Dating." Holly's grin turns into a wide smirk. "There isn't a problem, is there?"

"No. Of course not."

While Mercedes angrily eats her chips and goes off to the lounge, Holly looks to her right and widely smirks at Tina.

Tina claps then quickly goes back to work. She has to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

Kurt, seeing his irritated partner more or less stomp away, follows Mercedes into the lounge and as soon as he reaches up to her, he takes a deep breath before asking, "Are you okay?"

Mercedes lets out a deep breath and throws away her chips bag. She needs to buy another one soon. "Yeah, of course. Why you asked?"

"You looked annoyed," Kurt says, shrugging. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here. Are you free tomorrow night?"

"No. Why?"

"Good because I am invited to this exclusive party tomorrow night and since it looks like you need to relax, I would love for you to accompany me."

"Kurt, I can't-"

Kurt, refusing to take no for an answer, shakes his head and gives Mercedes a sassy look. He knows Mercedes very well; she never wants to attend big parties because she claims that she does not have the credentials to attend them- whatever that means- and believes that the only reason why she attends them isn't because she's invited but because she has to be Kurt's beard- which is totally not true but Kurt is very open about his sexuality. Anyway, she's not going getting out of this; her love life is in stake. "Mercedes, you're going. Be ready at nine o'clock tomorrow. I'll pick you up myself."

"Kurt-"

"Mercedes, there are going to be celebrities and models and fashion designers there. And there is going to be amazing food and decorations. And did I mention there are going to be a lot of men there. Single, attractive men. And did mention that they're single?"

Mercedes rolls her eyes as she continues to watch Sam and Brittany act all romantic with each other. What never. "Now why would I care about that?"

"Honey, you'll never know. Maybe you'll get lucky."

"Yeah, sure."

Kurt pouts then realizes what, rather who, she is watching through the lounge windows. He is tempted to pat himself in the back but Mercedes will suspect something. He turns Mercedes' face towards him and says. "I'm serious, Mercedes. You're a beautiful woman; you'll find someone who will feel the exact same way."

"Kurt, I'm not looking for a boyfriend at a party."

"I didn't say you would-"

Mercedes removes Kurt's hands from her chin and looks back at the office. Her eyes widen in surprise as Brittany grabs both sides of Sam's face and pulls him in for a kiss.

Kurt, also watching the kissing scene unfold, looks just as surprised as Mercedes. Well, he's not expecting Brittany to pull something like that off. She's not playing; he will thank her late. "Well- so I guess the rumors are true."

Mercedes turns to Kurt. She hasn't heard anything about rumors. She returns back to glaring at Brittany. "What rumors?"

"About Sam and the lady from the Cheerios dating."

Mercedes crosses her arms and groans. She cannot believe this crap. Isn't Brittany supposed to be with Artie? Or Santana? She honestly doesn't know about Brittany's revolving doors-love life. And since when does she like Sam? She didn't give him the time of day back in college. "About that party," she mumbles. "You said that there will be men there."

Kurt slowly smirks and pats her partner's shoulders. "Lots of them. Male models with delicious bodies."

Mercedes quickly glances at Sam, who is whispering into the blushing Cheerio's ear. Just what does he think he is? Flirting with some blonde in the office, unprofessionalism at its best. "Are you sure?"

Kurt smirks even wider and squeezes Mercedes' shoulders. He makes believe that he does not see Mercedes periodically looking back at the scene behind him. So far, Plan D is a success. "Now would I lie to you?"

"No, you wouldn't." Mercedes smiles. "You know what? I'll go. Maybe I'll find a date for the night. This single life isn't as wonderful as Holly makes it to be."

"You're taking advice from Holly about dating? That should be a crime." Kurt smiles widely and leads his partner back to her desk. "And don't worry about it, diva. You're going to have the time of your life."

"I better."

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. Only using the characters from my own amusement. No point in suing.**

**_Tuesday_**

"This is going to be great!" Holly shouts as she gets out of the cab. Tina follows her, not looking nearly as enthusiastic as Holly. She follows Holly across the street, with her head slightly down. She has bad, horrible, feeling that Plan D is going to crash and burn tonight. Mike had warned her not to go but Tina insisted that she must; now, she's regretting her decision as each second passes by.

Holly does not see the big deal. The plan is almost flawless, just as long as people do what they are supposed to do. She hopes to find Kurt and Mercedes soon as soon as possible just to check up on them. Holly had suggested that she and Tina did not arrive at the venue at the same time as Kurt and Mercedes; she said that it would look to suspicious and Mercedes would catch onto the plan.

Anyway, Holly's also here to have some fun. She loves to party, much more than she would like to admit. Unfortunately, due to her job, she has not been able to go out to the clubs as much as she did back in college. She takes off her six-inch heels as runs across the street and puts them back on at the entrance. She looks at the mirror at the side of the club's doors to finish her makeup; she has to admit, she looks hot and hopefully, many men attending the party will agree with her.

Tina is not as excited as Holly. She had promised Mike that they would have a movie night this morning, but she had to cancel because of Operation Samcedes. Mike was understandably upset but Tina promised to make it up to her husband. Tina hopes that Kurt knows he's doing about Mercedes' date. Tina is not dressed up as Holly. She's wearing her work clothes, much to Holly's chagrin. Tina's not looking for men to drool over her. She's married and Mike can drool over her in her pajamas or whatever. She fixes her top that refuses to work with her and follows Holly into the club.

"I know we're here to see Mercedes get a man," Holly says, throwing an arm around Tina's shoulders and leading her into the club. "But we should have some fun, yes?"

"Your version of fun is illegal."

"Oh Tina, your perception of me pains me so."

Tina rolls her eyes and drags Holly through the club doors.

Once inside, It does not take Holly long to spot Kurt. He is standing near the bar talking to Mercedes and handing her a flute from a walking waitress' tray. He is looking flamboyant as usual and he seems to be getting attention from everyone. Mercedes looks nice; she is wearing a nice dark purple dress and heels; she seems to be getting some attention too. Holly smiles and motions Tina to come to her.

"Did you find them?"

Holly points at her other coworkers. "Right there. Now, all we have to do is sit back and watch. Kurt said that he would have everything in control. Let him do his thing."

* * *

"Thank you for inviting me," Mercedes says thankfully. She pulls her stubborn dress down- it keeps on rising up for no damn reason. "I don't know what I would be doing now."

Kurt smiles and pats his partner's shoulders. "No problem. It looks like you need a break. Especially after that little fight you had with _you know who_ at Santana's."

Mercedes stiffens. She does not want to think about that night. She might have been acting a little... uncooperative but it was all Sam's fault; it always was... is. She puts down her half-finished flute down; this is the only drink she will have for the night, unless some lucky man offers to buy her one. She has to be at work early tomorrow; she cannot afford to get drunk. "Yea, about that." She sighs. "I don't know what my problem- our problem- is. We're supposed to be working together, for god's sake. We need to have that cover story by the end of next week."

"Speaking of the story, how's it going?"

Mercedes' glare answers his question.

Kurt gulps and downs a shot of- whatever it's called. He looks around the club, hoping to spot part three of Plan D. He sadly does not but he does spot Holly and Tina. "Not well, I see."

Mercedes shrugs. "I don't know what is going on. We promised each other that we would stop fighting and all but it seems that's all we do."

"True."

"And to make matters worse, he had cancelled on me last weekend."

Kurt looks at Mercedes surprised. Is Mercedes talking about a date? No, that's impossible. She does not like Sam or at least she think she doesn't. "Saturday night?"

"Yeah, we were supposed to meet up for the cover story but no, he had other plans," Mercedes grumbles, tempted to order another drink because Sam makes her so mad sometimes. "What nerve of him. I bet he had a date with _Brittany_. Not that that matters because he can date whoever he wants, but I wish he would have told me this before. I mean, he told me his wasn't seeing anyone and-"

"Why does it matter?"

Mercedes' eyes widen with realization of about what she is about to admit. Crap, this is why she should stay away from alcohol. "It doesn't."

Kurt smirks at Mercedes' knowingly. He has never seen Mercedes this jealous before, not even when Shane's groupies went after him. Maybe there is a method to Holly's and Santana's madness. He cannot believe how amazing Plan I is working and he has to thank Brittany for the doing the expected by kissing Sam right in the middle of the office. "Sure."

"Really, Kurt, _really?"_

Kurt beams as he sees the text on his phone. Yes, part three of Plan D has officially commenced. Sebastian is here and that means it's time for Kurt to make an exit for the time being. He finishes his drink and slides off the stool. When Mercedes gives him a questioning look, he smiles and says, "I'll be right back. There's someone- a man- who wants to talk to me." Kurt shrugs. "And before you say something, because I know you will, he's a fashion assistant for some celebrities. Not a fling."

Mercedes lets out a laugh. She knows what Kurt is implying. "Go get your man Kurt. I'll be fine."

Kurt flashes her with a wide smile before leaving. He plans not to come back until Mercedes' yells at him for setting up with someone or Sebastian telling him that he's executed his mission.

* * *

Tina takes out her phone and looks at the text Kurt's sent her. She smiles. "Well, it looks like the show is about to start. Sebastian is here and heading towards Mercedes as we speak."

Holly claps and sits up in the booth. She should have ordered another drink for the events that are about to unfold. "Terrific."

Tina sits up her seat and points at a man heading to the bar. "Holly, that's him. That's Sebastian Smythe!"

"Oh damn, he's even sexier in person," Holly says fanning herself, ignoring Tina's judging look. Holly doesn't care if the man is supposedly gay. He's cute and if it wasn't for the fact that he's supposed to be Mercedes' date, she would have seduced him herself. "What? It's true."

"Can we focus on the task at hand?"

* * *

Sebastian does not know what had come over him when he accepted Kurt's idea. He is not the type of guy who does something like this. Not that he does not like picking up women, because he definitely does and he is good at it- one of the benefits of being a world-class male model. But fake dating? That's high school stuff. But he owes Kurt a favor so he will just have to suck it up.

He is expecting a woman who is desperate to get a man. From the way Kurt explained it, it was supposed to fake date her for some reason- he did not like it but he wouldn't be surprised if the point was to bring the women's sprits up.

Kurt of course failed to mention to him that he was dealing with one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on- his modeling agent would say otherwise and request her to lose a hundred pounds but she is a jealous old prude. Sebastian is not a picky man. He does not care about the sex, if a person is attractive, he would go after it. Beautiful men. Beautiful women, they are all the same to him.

He straightens up his collar and suit jacket, rubs his hands together and sits next to the woman. Kurt wouldn't mind if he spices things up a bit. His friend did not specify what exactly he had to do. "How are _you_ doing tonight?"

Sebastian curses to himself. He is better than that; he is a master of pickup lines. And of course he chooses to use one of the worst ones.

Mercedes looks at the man, attractive man, next to her. He isn't talking to her, right? She bites her lips and orders a glass of water. "If you're looking for a partner for the night then I highly suggest to check out the girls on the dance floor. I'm sure they will be more than willing."

Sebastian smirks. He likes this woman already. "As appealing as that sounds, I'll have to pass."

"Your loss."

"Let me buy you a drink? Sipping water at a bar is a tragedy."

"There is nothing wrong with drinking water. At least it's not poison."

Sebastian tries not to laugh as he ignores the looks from other women in the bar. He wishes women could contain themselves around him. He knows he's attractive and all but he's on mission. "Oh come on, one drink isn't going to kill you."

Mercedes ponders for a moment. There isn't any harm in letting a cute guy buy her a drink. It saves her some money. She shrugs. "Sure. I would like an apple Martini, please."

Sebastian turns and asks the bartender to bring an apple Martini. When he receives it, he hands it to Mercedes then pays for the drink. "Now before you take a sip, will you tell me your name, beautiful?"

"Thanks for the drink." Mercedes leans in and smirks. There is no harm in messing with him. "My name is Mercedes Jones. And yours?"

"My name is Sebastian," Sebastian says, smiling in a way that never fails to bring women in. "Sebastian Smythe."

* * *

Holly, who is sitting at one of the booths at the back of the club, brings her hand to her mouth and gasps. She has a bad feeling that Sebastian may not be faking after all. Thanks to past experiences that she would rather not talk about, she can read any man's expression like an open book; she knows when men are interested in someone or not and from the way Sebastian is looking at Mercedes, he seems to be very interested. Too interested. Wait- didn't Kurt say he was gay?

"He's either a very good actor or he's not as gay as Kurt claims."

Tina groans and slouches in the booth. She knew it; she just knew it. There was a reason she said Plan D was a bad idea. The proof is right in front of her eyes. "I cannot believe this shit."

Holly gives Tina a sympathetic look. Maybe she will give Sebastian a benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's just a way good actor is nowhere mesmerized by Mercedes' chest- she highly doubts that. "You know, he can be taking this mission a bit too seriously..."

Holly and Tina remain silent as they continue to watch Mercedes and Sebastian intensify their flirting. Much more than they've expected. Holly hopes that nothing will escalate from this.

Tina is just confused. She knows Mercedes, very well. She knows Mercedes is not the type of woman who instantly lets any man get to her. She's looking like a blushing school girl. This is not supposed to happen, at least not that fast. "This is not like Mercedes. It looks like she's buying whatever Sebastian is selling."

Holly nods in agreement. Tina maybe right but she believes that Mercedes' is acting this way for entirely different reason. "Something tells me she's getting back at Sam for that lovely display at work."

Tina blinks. Oh right. "You think she's still worked up about that? I mean, I wasn't expecting Brittany to kiss like that, but it wasn't-"

Holly gets up and takes a snack from a passing waiter's tray. "Honey, Mercedes likes Sam, though she won't admit it. Of course she would still be mad. Won't you be mad if some random woman kissed Mike?"

"That's different!"

Holly shakes her head and returns to the booth. "There's not much of a difference, Chang-squared."

Tina rolls her eyes at the nickname and sits down next to Holly.

Holly and Tina continue to watch the scene in front of them in horror. Mercedes is practically on top of Sebastian, looking she is five seconds away from ripping his clothes off. Sebastian does not look any better. He takes off his jacket, throws it somewhere and takes Mercedes' face into his hands and kisses her. _Hard_.

"Should we stop them?"

Holly shakes her head. As much as she wants Sebastian to disappear, he is a significant player in Plan D. "No, we can't. He's supposed to be Mercedes' fake boyfriend. We don't have a backup."

"B-but look at him! Look at them!" Tina nearly shrieks as she points at Sebastian who is now whispering something in Mercedes' ear. Mercedes covers her mouth to hide her giggles and- is she blushing? Oh my... she _is_. "If that's not hardcore flirting, I don't know what it is! They just kissed!"

Tina thinks about calling Mike and asking him to get the escape car ready or bring Sam here to crash the party, but she doubts her husband would comply. He isn't feeling Plan D any more than Tina is but still, he is a part of Operation Samcedes. It would be nice for him to help out a little.

Holly does not look as concerned as Tina but she's a bit suspicious about the whole thing. Mercedes and Sebastian are looking a bit cozy and the supposedly gay man is looking at her coworker with lust in his eyes. Holly curses to herself. This may turn bad, real bad.

Holly's biggest worry is the possibility of another love triangle- she still has to look out for Shane. The only reason why he's been on the low as of late is because of the football season; there is a high chance that he will make another appearance which will complicate things even more. She knows that she's jumping the shark but during her role as McKinley's unofficial therapist, she has seen it all and heard it all.

She sighs. Maybe she is taking things to the next level. All Sebastian and Mercedes are doing is whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears, and being handsy, very handsy- that's all. The worst thing they can do is hook up and like it. Maybe that would be good for Mercedes. Lord knows she needs to get laid because obviously Shane hasn't been satisfying her during his tenure as Mercedes' boyfriend- and Holly wants to let everyone know that she's not the only one who thinks this. Just ask Tina.

Wait no, sleeping with Sebastian may not be a good idea.

"I don't understand. Shouldn't Kurt know if someone only likes guys or not?"

Tina searches for Kurt around the club. She curses when she does not see him. That man needs to appear soon because she needs to shove her foot down his throat. She cannot believe him! He's gay! He couldn't tell that Sebastian may be a bit attracted to woman?"

"Just because Kurt's gay doesn't mean he has a fully functional gaydar."

"I can't take this anymore," Tina announces, getting up from her booth with a determined glint her eyes. She looks down at Holly then at the bar. "I'm going to find Kurt and demand an explanation."

Holly gets up also. "I'll go with you. I can't watch those fool act like love sick puppies." She shudders. "It's disturbing especially since Sebastian is supposed to be faking it and Mercedes is supposed to be in love with Sam."

Tina gives the 'couple' at the bar one last look before marching off. When she finds Kurt at the other side of the club, she immediately runs to him. "Kurt Hummel," she says, marching up to the fashion editor with Holly following her. "You have some serious explaining to do!"

Kurt, who is talking to a female model, looks back in horror. He apologizes to the woman who ends up leaving his side and gulps as his two coworkers approach him. He has a terrible feeling that Plan I isn't going too smoothly.

"Hello, ladies."

Holly and Tina, putting their hands on their hips, glare at Kurt. They are not happy and Kurt is afraid to know why. He gulps again. Holly is the first too speak. "I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation but it seems that we have a little problem. Apparently, your gay man isn't as gay as you claimed."

Kurt blinks. He's going to kill Sebastian. His friend had promised him that he would have everything under control. "I never said-"

Tina, cutting Kurt off because she can, grabs Kurt by the collar and glowers up at the fashion editor. "You said he was gay."

Kurt gulps for the third time and tries to shrugs as he attempts to get out of Tina's hold. "No, I said he was bisexual, and it's not my fault he's really interested in Mercedes."

Tina growls.

"I wouldn't call it interested," Holly comments, looking at Sebastian run his hands down Mercedes' arm near the bar with disgust. "I think he's experienced love at first sight." She turns her attention to Kurt. "If this falls apart, it's all on you."

Kurt rolls her eyes as Tina finally lets him go. "That's impossible. All he is doing is his job."

"Clearly you haven't been watching him," Tina snaps, crossing her arms and pouting. Trust Kurt to screw everything up.

Kurt scoffs at the thought. He knows Sebastian. He hasn't slept with a woman since in high school and that was only because he wanted to prove that he was only attractive to girls- that didn't turn out so well. The thought that he can possibly be attracted to Mercedes is almost absurd; the model has sworn off women forever. "I think you two are taking this to the next level. Seb wants to be an actor one day; I'm sure this is all an act."

Holly sighs and shakes her head. "Kurt, honey, I don't think you understand the seriousness of this situation. Your boy wants to get into Mercedes' pants and from the looks of it, she wants to do the same to him. That's a problem. A very big problem. A problem we weren't prepared to deal with."

"Well isn't that what's he's supposed to do?"

Tina slaps Kurt on the forehead. "Not like this! He's supposed to do this because of Operation Samcedes. Not for his own agenda."

Holly groans as she realizes that there is another problem with Plan D. She grabs Kurt's shoulders. "He does know that Mercedes is technically supposed to be with someone else, right?"

"No…?"

Tina slaps her forehead. "What do you mean by _no_? Are you telling that you didn't tell Sebastian about the _entire_ plan?"

Holly curses. They're screwed. They are so screwed that she cannot fathom the amount of deep shit they are currently in. She only hopes that Sam upholds his ends of the bargain and that Sebastian does not ask Mercedes out on a date.

"I didn't think it would matter." Kurt gulps. "He knows that he is supposed to be Mercedes' fake date for the night, but that's about it.'

Tina throws up her hands up. "I cannot believe this. You didn't think it would matter!"

Holly sighs. "So he does not know that is supposed to help Sam jealous by dating Mercedes?"

Kurt, realizing that that he may have derailed Plan D, drops his head and says dejectedly. "I didn't think it was important to tell him that."

Holly rolls her eyes. "That's kind of a vital piece of information."

"Hey, hey, hey, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves," Kurt says, shaking his head. "They're not on a real date; they're not even on a fake date. All they are doing is having a chat, while sharing drinks."

"And saliva," Tina mentions pointing at Mercedes, who currently has her tongue down Sebastian's throat. When did _that_ happen? Tina prays that it is only the alcohol speaking but then remembers that Mercedes is not drunk; she's not even tipsy. Sebastian, you know the gay guy, seems to enjoy making out with Mercedes, very much. "You better pray they don't go home together."

Tina, Holly and Kurt are speechless as they witness Sebastian taking Mercedes' hand and leading her out of the club.

"_Shit_."

They exchange looks, eyes wide, and immediately chase after the two lovers.

**To be continued….**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Just to let everyone, especially those copy writers and lawyers, know that I do not, under any circumstances, own Glee. If I did, I would not have to take out loans for school, I would have a real, functioning laptop and Samcedes would have a permanent residence in that show.**

**_Wednesday_**

The only reason why Santana has not committed mass murder is because she does not want to spend the rest of her life in prison.

That is the only reason why.

To say that last night was a disaster is an understatement. Tina, Holly and Kurt have never seen a plan fall apart as much as Plan D did last night. They couldn't even reach Mercedes and Sebastian in time to get them not to go home together.

"All I asked of you was to execute Plan D to the best of your abilities. That's all. I didn't ask you to do anything drastic, just make sure whatever his name fake dates Mercedes, and you guys couldn't even fucking do that."

Santana does not understand. Santana's honestly thought that Plan I was flawless; there should not have been a reason why Holly frantically called her one in the morning to tell her that the seemingly foolproof plan was down the drain.

"I told everyone it was a bad idea," Tina says, defending herself from Santana's death glare and from the blame. "But _no_, who wants listen to Tina?"

Tina frowns deeply as she remembers the conversation she's had with Mercedes, early this morning. She wanted to gag when Mercedes raved about how amazing Sebastian was, and now, cute and nice- _really_- and how they were going to go on a date and such…

"Shut up, Tina," Holly snaps. She knows that Tina has told everyone, plenty of times, about the dangers of initiating Plan D. She doesn't need to be reminded of that every five seconds.

Tina crosses her arms and pouts. She is not going to get blamed for this disaster. She warned everyone.

Kurt, fearing for his life, wisely decides not to comment on anything. He believes that speaking up will only be self-incriminating.

Santana let out a deep breath; she's too young to have a heart attack because her minions couldn't do the job right. "How bad is it? And I want the truth."

Holly decides to speak up. "It appears that Mercedes and Sebastian are genuinely interested in each other. According to her voice message left on my phone this morning, they plan to go on a date tonight." She gulps then says, "I'm afraid that the date is going to be real one."

Santana growls and throws a napkin at Kurt's face. "I should really kill you for this."

"I told him that he was only supposed to be Cedes' fake lover. I didn't know that he was going to do this!"

"That's because Kurt, over here, did not tell Sebastian the entire plan," Tina states, as she, as well as Santana, glares at Kurt. "Apparently, he does not know that Mercedes is really supposed to be with Sam, not him."

"And why didn't you tell him everything, Hummel?"

Kurt gulps. This is all of his fault and now, he is going to pay for it. "Because I didn't think it was important," he meekly replies, bowing his head in shame.

"And why didn't you think mentioning that very important piece of information was important?" Santana asks in a terrifyingly calm tone. She is feeling anything but, especially since now, she has to come up with Plan E, and so far she has nada.

Tina and Holly look at Kurt for the answer.

"Because I didn't think every single person we encountered should be in on the whole operation." He continues in an attempt to defend his decision. "Sebastian does not know Mercedes and Sam- well, Sam. He wouldn't understand the significance of getting them together."

"This is a complete disaster!" Tina shouts, burying her head in her hands. "We will never get them together, not with Mercedes seeing Sebastian."

Holly and Santana glare at Kurt.

Kurt, who has been feeling bad about messing everything up, all of a sudden gets an epiphany. Plan I is not a failure after all. "No, that's good. That means Plan D is working, sort of," He proudly states. "Sam is going to get jealous and that means he is going to try and stop the Sebcedes date."

"Sebcedes?"

"Sebastian and Mercedes."

"Ah," Holly rubs her hands together. "As nice as that sounds, and trust me, it does, the bigger problem still exists. Mercedes is going on a date, a real date, mind you, that has the potential to turn into something more."

"Well, Sam just has to get his act together before that happens," Kurt says. "I know Mercedes. She's not the type of woman to rush into things, especially relationships."

"She slept with Sebastian," Tina counters. "She only knew him for not even thirty minutes and she already went home with him. I think that counts as rushing into things."

"Of course she did," Santana mumbles, shaking her head.

Holly takes a bite of her cookie before saying, "We need to first make Sebastian disappear, legally."

Santana and Tina agree.

Kurt, who's all of a sudden become the bearer of good ideas, claps his hands and suggests, "I know the perfect way to get Seb out of the picture: his alleged ex-boyfriend, Blaine. Sources say that he wants him back."

Santana, Holly and Tina groan.

"If you want Sebastian to disappear, this is the only rational option," Kurt responds. "And anyway, you all know Blaine; he is a very reasonable person. He isn't going to cause a scene. I promise you."

"I'm no longer taking any promises from you."

Kurt rolls his eyes at Holly. Yes, he knows he's screwed up, but he is willing to fix everything, only if everyone will let him. "Look, there are only two things that can happen if Blaine gets into the picture: either Seb leaves Mercedes because he realizes that he is still in love with Blaine, or Mercedes dump Sebastian for finding out that he is also attracted to guys and maybe still in love with one."

"This Operation is not going to turn into a Jerry Springer episode," Santana warns, narrowing her eyes. "I do not want to deal with ex-boyfriends, lovers, or whatever because you screwed up."

Holly rubs her chin. Kurt may actually be up to something. "Hold up- that may not be a bad idea. Blaine can try to win Sebastian back and Mercedes leaves Sebastian because she doesn't want to be with a man who likes men, and then while she is in complete distress about the entire situation, Sam can come along and sweep her off her feet."

"Like a knight in shining armor," Kurt adds, smiling.

Santana leans back in her chair, thinking about Kurt's idea. It's risky; very risky and frankly, it may create even more chaos than Plan I, but she supposes she can try it. It's not like she has a better plan. "So, is this supposed to be Plan E?"

"More like an extension of Plan D," Holly replies, fist bumping Kurt. She has to admit, Kurt may mess things up, but he always has creative plans. Now, Operation: Samcedes just has to make sure Plan D and a half does not end in disaster like Plan D.

"Alright," Santana says. "Because we do not have any better ideas at the moment, we have no choice but to test Kurt's idea out. Holly's right. We need to get Sebastian out of the picture. He is no longer useful for our mission. Kurt, call Blaine and set things right, for once."

Kurt salutes and smiles widely. "Yes, ma'am."

Santana, just noticing that not all of Operation: Samcedes is getting yelled at- besides Brittany, she is unable to make it to the meeting, glances at Tina and asks, "Tina, where is Mike? I thought he's supposed to be here?"

"He's at a bar; not your bar, currently consoling Sam about the whole Sebastian- Mercedes thing."

Holly slaps her forehead.

Kurt slides down in the booth.

And Santana just gives Tina the most confused look she can muster. "Are you telling me that your husband is telling Sam, as in Sam, about Mercedes and Sebastian?"

Tina, shrugging because she honestly does not see the problem, replies with, "Well yeah, Mike knows about it and insists that he should tell Sam as soon as possible- just in case Sam tries to do anything counterproductive."

While Operation Samcedes continues to revitalize their matchmaking plans, Mike does his part by trying to persuade Sam to abandon Plan D, in a bar because that's normally where Sam gets his 'amazing' ideas. He's heard all about the failure that was last night from his wife; he knew this was going to happen; he just knew it. And now, because Kurt has screwed things up, Mike has to take things into his own hands.

He is not happy about this at all.

Mike's course of action is simple: buy Sam a beer and break the news about in a slow, clear fashion. Sam does not handle a lot of information in a short amount of time, especially when it involves Mercedes.

"So about that faking dating plan with Brittany..."

"What about it?"

"I think it would be a very wise idea if you um, end it now."

"Why?"

Mike gives Sam a sad smile. He hates to be the bearer of bad news, but it's either Sam finds out from him or Sam finds out from someone else, even worse, Mercedes. "The point of you fake dating Brittany is to make Mercedes jealous, correct?" Sam nods before Mike continues, "Well, the plan doesn't work if Mercedes can't get jealous."

"And why wouldn't she get jealous...?"

"Because she has her interests in another person," Mike pauses and shakes his head. "She's involved with someone else."

Sam, nearly dropping his beer on his best friend's head, jumps from his seats and shouts, on top of his lungs, "What the hell?"

He does not notice that the entire bar population is staring at him, wondering what could have caused the outburst. As soon as he sees the bar owner giving him the evil eye from the other side of the place, he sits down and tries to calm himself.

It's not working.

"What the hell do you mean Mercedes is dating someone? She's supposed to be single."

Mike shrugs. "She's going out on a date with Sebastian Smythe, you know the-"

"_I know who he is_," Sam snaps. His face is turning red with anger- though, when he thinks about it later on, it doesn't have a real reason to be mad. It's not like Mercedes and him are together anymore. "I just want to know why Mercedes is dating someone-"

"Who's not you?" Mike adds in. "Look, I know you're upset, but you have to think rationally right now. You need to step your game up, big time."

"But what can I do?"

"Sam, you know Mercedes better than anyone else at McKinley, including Tina," Mike says, feeling like he is about to give one of those epic sport pep talks. "You know what she's like and believe it or not, you know how to get her back. All you have to do is put your insecurities aside and do it."

Sam thinks for a moment. Mike has a point; Mike has a very good point. He doesn't need to fake date someone to get Mercedes back. "You're right..."

"I know I'm right."

"I'm not going to let some male model take Mercy away," Sam declares. "She belongs with me."

"That's the spirit."

"But I need a plan."

"Here's a thought. Why don't you just tell her you feel?"

Sam frowns. He can't do that. No, Mercedes won't accept it; he just knows it. "That's not going to fly. This _is_ Mercedes, we're talking about."

"Hey, you'll never know," Mike says, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. He asks and receives a pen from the bartender. "Okay, if we are going to do this, we have to do it right. We need establish goals. The first one is to have a conversation with Mercedes without any yelling or arguing. Do you know what that means, Sam? No getting Mercedes upset or mentioning anything that can be uncomfortable. Do you understand?"

"It's not my fault that she's the one hiding things from me," Sam grumbles, frowning at his beer bottle, wondering why he is the one always getting blame for the lack of communication. Mercedes is the most stubborn woman he has ever met; she even beats Santana, believe it or not. "All I've done is asked some questions. Reasonable questions; questions that are easy to answer, but instead of giving me some answers, she explodes on me."

"Has it ever occurred to you that she does not like to talk about the past?"

"But the past is the reason why we can't talk to each other like decent people in the present. We need to get over that hurdle," Sam whines because it's true.

"Winners are not whiners." Mike sighs. Now, he feels like a therapist. "Why do you think she does not to talk about the past?"

"How am I supposed to know? Like I said, every time I mention it, she snaps at me."

"Maybe it's the way you've mentioned it? If it's something sensitive, she may feel uncomfortable talking about it."

"Fine." Sam crosses his arms and ponders with a determined look on his face. So, he knows that he can't mess up this opportunity. Mercedes is no longer single, and therefore he does not have much time to make his move. "When is this _date_ supposed to take place?"

Mike blinks. Sam isn't thinking about doing what Mike thinks he's thinking about doing, right? He has a feeling that his fears are about to be confirmed. "Tonight, at nine. Tina is going to give me further information when I get home."

"That does not leave us a lot of time," Sam replies, glancing at his watch. He only has one hour to pull this off. "Not a lot of time, at all. Can you do me a favor and text or call me when Tina tells you about the location and-"

"Sam Evans, remember what I said about thinking rationally? You can't go ahead and crash Mercedes' date, and expect her to run into your arms."

Sam rolls his eyes and drinks his beer. "Of course I am not going to crash it. All we're going to do is check out the competition. See what I'm up against."

Mike groans. He has had a bad feeling that he is going to be, once again, dragged into another plan that is going to backfire. "What do you mean by _we_?"

Sam almost slams the beer bottle on the bar and gives his best friend an incredulous look. "You can't honestly think I'll be able do this alone. I need you by my side. I need some reinforcements. I already had two beers, who knows what will happen? And, I don't think you want me to drive over there drunk."

Mike narrows his eyes and groans. "You're not drunk. You're not even tipsy," he says, taking out his phone. Great, of course Tina has texted him the location of the date. He guesses he has no choice but to join Sam, because knowing his best friend, he would do something stupid. "I'll go, but we're only going to check out what's going on. Nothing else, Sam, do you understand me, _nothing else_."

Sam flashes him a smile, pay of his second beer and jumps off the steel. "I love you man, if I wasn't straight and you weren't married, I would have- I don't know, askede you on a date or something."

Mike rolls his eyes and leads Sam out of the bar. So Sam is not drunk, but guessing from his last comment, he is at least a little buzzed. He looks at his phone once again before stealing Sam's keys and getting into the car.

"They will be at a Thai restaurant on Ninth Avenue. Of course Tina forgot to ask what it's called," Mike says, putting the key in the ignition. He chuckles a little when Sam give him _this_ look.

"A Thai restaurant?" Sam asks, as if it is the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard. "Mercedes doesn't even like Thai food! That asshole doesn't know what's he getting himself into."

Mike cannot help but laugh even more as he drives off.

**To be continued...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: l do not own Glee or its characters. I am only using them for my own amusement. **

**Author's Note: I know I haven't said this in the past few chapters, but thanks so much for the comments! They bring a smile to my face and brighten my day- especially when I get them during class. You are guys are nothing short of amazing. **

**This chapter turned out a lot differently than I thought. I hope you enjoy it!**

This plan is off the books- top secret. No one in Operation: Samcedes knows about what Mike and Sam plan to do, not even Tina- who will eventually find out because she has the uncanny ability of extracting information from her husband.

Mike wonders how upset Santana will be if she finds out that he's doing something on the side without her consent, but he decides to worry about that later. He has more pressing things to deal with, like making sure Sam does not attract unwanted attention.

As usual, Mike has a feeling that this plan is not going to end well, but as usual, he decides to go along with it. Sam is his best friend after all, and best friends are supposed to have best friends' back even if said best friends' plan may be a bad one.

To be completely honest, it's a lot easier said than done.

He needs to reassure himself that his fears are just as irrational as Sam's mental process when he has too many beers while determined to win the love of his life's heart.

"Sam, my man, please tell me you have a plan that won't consist of you embarrassing yourself in front of an entire restaurant."

"Mike, your lack of faith in me is truly disturbing," Sam replies, walking up to the hostess, feeling confident about what will happen in the future inside the restaurant. "I got this."

Mike is pretty sure Sam doesn't "got this," but being the amazing best friend he is, he does not do anything but follow Sam and the hostess to the table.

It is a nice restaurant- Mike has to admit- not too fancy, not too casual. It has a first date atmosphere and he could have sworn that he had taken his wife here in the past.

Sam doesn't care about the way the restaurant looks or feels. He is a man on a mission. Of course he doesn't actually had a plan at the moment- he swears he will able to think of something once he has some food in his stomach. He looks around for Mercedes. He smirks when he sees the familiar face, then instantly frowns when he notices that she's not alone.

"Hello, my name is Mandy," the waitress announces as Mike and Sam sit at the table. She puts the menus down. "I'll be your server for tonight. Would you like to start off with some drinks?"

"Can I have a glass of water with lemon, please?"

Sam snorts. "Can I have some beer?" He realizes when Mike glares him at him that, oh right- he'd promised him during the ride to the restaurant that he wouldn't have any more alcohol for the rest of the night. "A coke will be fine. Can you tell us about tonight's special?"

The waitress raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "Sure. Tonight's special is called couple's special. One buys one of our exclusive entrees and the other person gets the same dish for half the price."

Sam nods and hands the waitress the menu. He already knows what he wants- basil chicken. It sounds good. "Couple's special it is. Two ginger chickens- you don't mind that right?"

Mike shrugs. He does not mind. "Sure, okay."

"Two ginger chicken dishes," The waitress mutters, jotting the orders down. She pauses and smirks at the two men. "So, what's the occasion? First date? Anniversary? Coming out party?"

Sam gapes, realizing that the waitress is implying. He looks at Mike, who is red from embarrassment from being told that he may be gay. He looks back at the waitress, who has a slightly apologetic look on her face. "We're not.. uh together, in that way."

Mike and Sam glance at each other.

Mike closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He is going to make believe that the waitress does not believe that he is in a romantic relationship with his best friend. Yes, he is just going to sit at the table and pray for this night to end.

Tina would be laughing her ass off she was here.

"_Oh my god_!" The waitress exclaims, tightly holding the menus to her chest. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I just assumed. This is couples night and the only people who come and ask for the couple's special are legit couples- I just assumed. Oh my god, I am so sorry, please don't tell my boss."

"Miss, it's okay," Mike says, attempting to calm Mandy, who looks like she's about to have a panic attack. "We won't sue you or anything. Can you just get our orders?"

"Oh my god, of course!" the waitress says, taking Mike's menu. "Just for my slip, I'll only charge you five bucks for both of the dishes. I'm so sorry- I'm normally good at picking out couples."

"Do you see them?" Mike asks as soon as the waitress leaves. Judging from the scowl on Sam's face, he has. "I'll take that as a yes."

"She's across the room, sitting with _him_," Sam mumbles glancing at Mercedes' table, watching Mercedes giggle from a seemingly lame joke. "And she looks like she's having a good time."

"Sam, watching them isn't going to make it any easier."

"I can't _not_ watch them. I need to look at whom I'm up against."

"All you're doing is making yourself even angrier."

Sam looks at Mercedes' table again. Sebastian scoots his chair closer to the table while his hands reach from Mercedes' knees under the table. Mercedes tries to stifle her chuckles in vain. Sam scowls.

Sam is not into men, despite what the waitress thinks, but he has to admit that he can see why women would flock to Sebastian. But no matter, he is no match for him, even though Sam is the only person who believes so. Sebastian isn't right for her. How long did her know her, two days? He doesn't know what she likes and what she wants in life. He doesn't know Mercedes nearly as much as Sam.

Mike, watching Sam's expression turn from angry to pissed off and jealous, sighs. He feels for his friend, he really does. He can't imagine how Sam feels, watching Sebastian being touchy with the love of his life. "So is this the plan? Torture yourself until they leave?"

Sam shakes his head. "No, I'm only watching, not going to do anything else. I'm not that crazy."

"Are you sure about that?" Mike scoffs, smirking as Sam glares at him. "We are going to eat our ginger chicken then go home. There's nothing else for us to see or do."

As soon as he says those words, Sam witnesses the most horrible sight in his entire life; Sebastian leans over the table and gives Mercedes a kiss, not it isn't just any kiss- no, it is one of those passionate kiss you see in the romantic movies- not that Sam has ever seen any of them. He tightly grabs his knife and loudly growls. This isn't supposed to happen- this is only their first date.

"Why is she kissing him?"

"They're on a date."

"Their _first_ date," Sam says, glaring at the couple. "That shouldn't be happening until at least the second one."

That is the rule, right?

Mike gulps, thinking that he may need to blindfold Sam for the rest of the night. He shouldn't be surprised; people kiss all the time at dates, he just wishes that Mercedes and Sebastian would not do it in Sam's presence. He decides not to mention that Mercedes and Sebastian have done things way pass the stage of kissing- he doesn't want Sam to kill anyone.

"Sam, calm down."

"I _am_ calm."

Sam is perfectly calm. If he wasn't calm, he would have punched Sebastian in the face the moment the male model leaned in for a kiss. Sam is very calm, upset- yes, jealous- extremely, but calm.

Mike plans to console his friend and assure him that everything will be okay. He may feel like he's in a therapy session yet again, but that's the least he can do. But of course, mother nature has to come along and screw everything up. He groans and squeezes his knees together. He knows he shouldn't have drunk three glasses at water at the bar without using the bathroom. He tries to hold the urge him, he really does, but all of his attempts are all in vain.

Sam quickly glances at Mike before returning back to his staring contest with Mercedes' table. "Mike, are you okay?"

Mike gets up from his seat. He really doesn't want to leave his friend; he fears that his absence may lead to some complications, but his body is currently calling the shots and demanding him to go the rest room. "I have to quickly use the bathroom. Please, for the love of God, don't do anything rash. Just sit here and wait until I get back. Do you understand me?"

"Sure," Sam mumbles, narrowing his eyes at the site at the other side of the rest. He may or may not have paid attention to one word Mike has said besides "going to the bathroom."

Mike, realizing that he isn't going to get a better answer out of his lovesick friend, takes the answer as a yes and gives Sam one last pleading look not to do anything stupid before rushing to relieve himself.

Sam tries to listen to what Mike says, he really does. He knows that he should not get out of the seat and confront the date from Hell- it will only create problems and-

He looks back at the date and rolls his eyes as Sebastian reaches in for another kiss. Mercedes eagerly gives it to him, pulling him closer to her. Sebastian sits back down with a shit-eating grin on his face. His hands start to wander again under the table.

Fuck this.

He is Sam Evans for fuck's sake. He doesn't let some poor excuse of a man look, kiss and speak to his woman like that. Hell no, and he doesn't have the right to keep on rubbing his hands on Mercedes' thighs. That's his job- a job that he hasn't had since college, but nonetheless his job and his job alone.

He pushes his chair back, with a determined look in his eyes, looks back to make sure that Mike is nowhere in sight, takes a deep breath, thinks over his options and marches straight to Mercedes and Sebastian's table, consequences be damned.

He thinks about going back to his seat a couple times, only because a rational part of him won't stop telling him that what he's about to do is a bad idea. But he's already close. There's no point in backing down now, not when Sebastian has the inability to keep his damn hands and lips to himself.

* * *

Mercedes cannot believe her eyes. There is Sam, her coworker and her college roommate that she may or may not still have feelings for, standing right in front of her table, glaring at her and her date as if they have told him that Avatar was lame.

She does not know what to do or say. She thinks about screaming at him because really, just who does Sam thinks he is, messing up her date, but since this is a relatively upscale restaurant, she decides that it would not be appropriate to do so.

Seriously, isn't he supposed to be on a date with Brittany? That's what Holly told her this afternoon.

"How did you even-?" Mercedes takes a deep breath and a quick sip of her wine. "Why are you _here?"_

"I should ask you the same thing. You don't even like Thai food. You told me that sophomore year when Vernon took you to one and you ended up getting food poison from the crab rangoons. You said that the experience had ruined all desires to step foot in another Thai restaurant, no matter how good it is."

Sebastian, offended that whoever this is, just insulted his impeccable choice in first date eateries, glares up at Sam. He doesn't know who is he, and frankly he does not give a damn. He is ruining his date with the woman of his dreams and he's not going get out of this easily. "And who the hell are you?"

Sam puffs out his chest and announces in a big voice, "My name is Sam-"

Mercedes grabs both of Sebastian's hands from across the table and smiles, attempting to reassure him that he should not be alarmed. "Honey, he's just a coworker from work. Nothing to worry about, right Sam?."

"Is that all I am to you?" Sam asks, not caring that he sounds like a lovesick schoolgirl. He has some alcohol in his system; he can act like this. "A coworker? After all we've been through, I'm only just a coworker?"

"Samuel Evans," Mercedes begins as calmly as possible. She cannot believe this is happening; Sam must have had something to drink. It is the only explanation to explain this insanity. "This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation."

"No, this is the perfect time and place," Sam says. "I'm probably not going to get another chance to do this. See, you seem to be interested in him, which is all fine and good, except for the part that you don't belong with him."

"Since when do you have the right to tell me who I can or cannot be with?"

"Never, but I know you, Mercedes. I know you more than you would like to admit. I know you won't be happy with him, just like I knew you wouldn't be happy with Shane, though I didn't expect him to treat you like that."

"Sam-"

Sebastian gets out of this seat. "Just who the hell do you think you are? Do you know who I am? I'm Sebastian Smythe, and no one insults Sebastian Smythe."

Mercedes frowns. She cannot believe these two fools want to start a scene in public. "Sebastian, please sit down."

Sam, unimpressed because the male model has just interrupted his entire confession thing, rolls his eyes as Sebastian reluctantly sits back in his seat. He returns his attention to Mercedes who is giving him the meanest look. He understands; he's just crashed her date.

"Look," Sam begins, making eye contact with Mercedes. "I know things between us as been pretty rocky, and I'm sorry. I'll do anything to make it better- just say it and I'll do it. I want to go back to the way it was in college, hell, even more, but not including the end of second semester senior year."

Sebastian blinks as his anger quickly turns into slight panic- he is not in full panic mode; Sebastian Smythe does not panic. Oh crap, he knows where this is going. He looks at his date who looks just as stunned as he. This is what happens when he finally decides to exclusively date someone; he finds out that she has an ex-whatever who is determined to get her back. He hates that he constantly finds himself in a soap opera-like scenario.

Mercedes clears her throat. Sam must be crazy if he thinks he can just show up and tell her these things. She means, who does this? She slightly frowns. "Sam, we were only having sex- nothing more, nothing less. You need to let go of the past."

"You can't honestly tell me that you think what happened in college was only physical."

From the corner of his eye, Sam sees Mike emerging from the bathroom with pure panic (and anger, but Sam is going to ignore that now) on his face when he realizes that Sam is doing exactly the opposite of what he wanted. No doubt he will hear yet another lecture later tonight, but he will deal with that later.

He then remembers what Mike had warned him about. He can't talk about the past; Mercedes will flip out on him.

"Mercy- Mercedes," Sam says, bending down at the table, not paying attention at the various looks from other tables. Forget them; he has a mission to accomplish. "I am so sorry for everything. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I didn't mean to hurt you; I didn't mean to call you an insensitive brat because of the moving thing-"

"Sam-"

"No, listen. I'm sorry about talking about Shane- I know you're really touchy about that subject- and I am so, so sorry that asshole cheated on you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met and you deserve so much better. Any man would be lucky to have you by his side and I'm so sorry it has taken me this long to realize that."

Sebastian decides that he is going to be a bad date and not get in the middle of whatever this is. Well, it seems that Kurt's failed to mention that he is in the center of a love triangle. Kurt is going to get an earful from him tomorrow at the fashion show. He didn't sign up for any of this.

"What are you trying to say-?"

"I am trying to say that I am in love with you. I've been in love with you ever since freshman year, when you nearly kicked me out of our dorm room because you find out that I'd been secretly eating all of your Doritos."

**To be continued…**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I am simply using them for my entertainment. **

Mercedes has expected many things to happen during her date with a world-famous model who isn't as much as an egotistical douche as everyone's claimed- having her coworker/ex-college roommate/ex- friend with benefits confess his feelings for her in front of literally everyone is not one of them.

What does one say after a confession?

Sebastian is of course fuming and glaring daggers at Sam. Just who does this fool think he is? Crashing his dinner and insulting him by saying that he isn't good for Mercedes. He can careless that Sam is Mercedes' coworker, he is offended and Sam is going to pay, one way or the other.

Sebastian thinks about giving Sam a piece of his mind and making his sentiments extremely clear, but doing so would only create even more unwanted attention from the restaurant patrons. He's a famous model and he has a reputation to uphold. His agent from Warblers Model Management will not be too pleased if she finds out that her model has caused a scene in a crowded public place over someone who's not even his girlfriend.

Mercedes sighs and gives her date an apologetic look. She has a few options. She can accept Sam's confession and move on with her life. Or deny that he even said anything. She doesn't want to be all romantic with him; after all, she is on a date and telling someone that you may feel the same way while being on another date with a guy who has definitely plays into her interests is just downright rude.

It doesn't take long for Sam to realize that he's dug a very deep hole for himself. He doesn't expect Mercedes to tell him she loves him back, well at least not now. He'll give her some time. She doesn't look very happy right now and man, he should have just listened to Mike.

Speaking of his best friend…

Sam glances back and gulps when he sees Mike marching up to him. Oh nice, there is a murderous glint in Mike's eyes. Sam can only imagine the lecture he is going to receive from his best friend. He knows that he owes Mike big time. If only if he listened to Mike's demands.

Damn it, Mike's going to kill him.

He runs his hand through his hair and slowly stands up. The whole restaurant is looking at him, some in shock, some in amusement. Some of the waitresses are blushing and giggling in the corner near the kitchen entrance. Well, this is just terrific; he's embarrassed himself in front of an entire restaurant and so far, nothing good has come out of it. He doesn't know what to do right now. Should he apologize and insist that every word that has come out of his mouth was a joke? Should he run away? Should he pass out so that everyone would think that his love confession monologue is only the result of his drunken stupor?

For a second, he wishes Mike would knock him unconscious and drag him out of the restaurant.

Mercedes gulps down the reminder of her wine and reaches out for Sebastian's glass. If Sam keeps up dragging her into his antics, she's going to become an alcoholic and give Sam the bill for rehab. All she wants to do is have a nice date with a male model, who has amazing washboard abs and is a fantastic kisser. That's all. She wants to dip her toe into the dating pool- have some fun for once for her life (according to Holly, she's needed to get laid last year).

Then maybe, just maybe, she can forget about the past involving Shane (who is still calling her each night, begging for her to come back into his arms) and Sam. Shane because he doesn't understand the meaning of a strictly monogamous relationship and Sam because, well, she wants to forget that she's pretty much messed up a good thing because of her misguided perception of a good boyfriend.

Honestly, all she also wants is to have a stable, professional relationship with the _former_ love of her life (she's emphasizing that word because she is _so_ over college romances- so she claims). Of course, what she wants is in danger because Sam, poor impulsive Sam, wants her back _romantically._

Before Mercedes can tell Sam to get over himself and let her enjoy her date in peace, Mike, much to her surprise, arrives at her table, and boy does he look mad. His expression rivals Sebastian's. Mike glares at Sam and turns his attention to Mercedes, giving her a remorseful look.

"I cannot begin to explain how sorry I am for Sam's behavior," Mike says. "It's quite obvious that Sam cannot comprehend simple directions."

Sam snorts. "I had some drinks and-" He abruptly shuts up when Mike gives him a 'if you don't shut up right now' look. Maybe he shouldn't say another word for the rest of the night.

Mercedes closes her eyes for a moment and lets out a deep breath. She drinks all of Sebastian's wine, ignoring the alarmed look on her date's face. "There's no need to apologize," she says, rubbing her temples. "Just take him away."

Mike grabs Sam's collar, ignoring his friend's protests. "It would be my honor," and with that he drags Sam away.

Once outside of the restaurant, Mike begins to reevaluate his life and who he chooses to be best friends with.

Mike should have expected that Sam would do the complete opposite of what he was told. Sam is hard-headed, but to his defense, though a very minor one, he does have beer in his system. His level of recklessness is much clearer in this state. But still, Mike was in the bathroom for two minutes. Hell, even less than that. Sam couldn't keep his behind in his seat for _two fucking minutes_?

Mike knows he should have stayed at the bar. He's known from the very beginning that everything would backfire. Mike has severely underestimated the power of gut feelings. He should start listening to them more, not doing so has seemed only to bite him in the ass.

"Before you start shouting at me, I just want to say that I am very, very, very sorry."

Mike rolls his eyes. He knows he's sorry, but that still doesn't help the fact that Sam has single-handedly destroyed Operation: Samcedes. Tina is going to kill him, and then after that, Santana's going to kill him. "I cannot believe you. Two minutes, I was gone for_ two minutes_. All I asked you to do was stay in your seat until I came back. That's all, and you couldn't even handle that."

Sam puts his hands up. "I know I screwed up- but what was I supposed to do? Just sit there and watch that bastard kiss Mercy?"

"Yes!"

Mike honestly does not see the problem.

Sam rolls his eyes and groans. He needs another beer, maybe two. Then will be able to forget about all of the mistakes until the morning. Wait, no- that's not a good idea. Showing up at work with a killer hangover will not do Sam any good, especially since he has to finalize that cover article from hell with Mercedes- oh damn. He slaps his forehead, realizing how much of a dumbass he really is.

"But-"

"No, but nothing," He plans to rant more, but pauses. He blinks then asks in an incredulous voice, "Doritos, really? You fell in love with Mercedes because you took her Doritos?"

Sam knows it sounds crazy, but Mike wasn't there so he can't judge him. "If you knew how sexy Mercy gets when she's mad, you would have done the same."

Mike is not going ask.

"What are you going to do now?" Mike asks. He hopes that Sam has a new plan before Tina or worse, Santana finds out. "It doesn't look like Mercedes is leaving him anytime soon."

"Oh she will," Sam says with confidence. "I just have to wait until she's not mad at me anymore."

"You can't be-" Mike stops. "If Tina makes me sleep on the couch for a month after finding out about your little stunt, which she will, I'm kicking your ass all the way back to Tennessee. Understand?"

"Got it."

Mike shakes his head. He deserves the "best friend of the year" award. If this match-making thing miraculously works out- the chances don't look very good right now but whatever- Sam owes him big time. He's talking about financing a vacation or buying him a flat-screen, plasma, sixty-inch TV that Sam's going to install all by himself in the living room. You know what? No, Sam's paying for both. The level of stress Mike's has gone through for the past week and a half- it's only been that long- is inexplicable. He needs a back message, acupuncture and a week off from work.

Mike looks back at the Mercedes' table. Mercedes seems to be arguing with her date about something. Sebastian looks apologetic and occasionally points to Mike's direction. Mike's eyes widen as he watches Sebastian angrily push back his chair and stomp towards him.

_Shit._

"Uh Sam, it looks like we have company…"

Sam looks behind Mike and sees no one else but Sebastian Smythe stomping towards him. He sighs and stands up straight. So it looks like the fight isn't over after all.

"Don't worry. I got this."

Mike rolls his eyes. Sam doesn't get anything; that's his problem. He doesn't get that crashing a date to tell someone that he loves them in front of the date is not a very good idea. "Sure you do," he replies. "Sam, just apologize to the guy and get the hell out here. We're not even supposed to be here in the first place."

Sam ignores Mike's advice, as usual, and narrows his eyes as he watches Sebastian get closer. Mercedes is following close behind with an annoyed look- he doesn't know if the look is for him or her date. He hopes it's for Sebastian because really, that man is getting on his last nerves.

Mike steps back; he has a bad feeling about this.

"Hey, asshole-!" The male model calls out, clenching his fist. Before Sam can create a comeback, Sebastian punches him square in the face.

"What the hell-?"

Sebastian steps up to him and says in a threatening voice, "You better stay away from my girl."

"She's not your girl!" Sam shots back, grabbing his cheek. Damn, he hasn't expected that at all. And for a skinny guy, Sebastian can pack a punch. But he can't let anyone know that his cheek feels like it's on fire; it'll only make him look weak.

Mercedes pushes Sebastian back. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Did you not just see what he did?" Sebastian shouts, but not loud enough to get the attention of most of the patrons. There are still some people attempting to overhear the commotion. "He's lucky that I didn't-"

Sebastian is cut off as he is mauled to the ground by Sam. Mercedes can only watch as Sam attempts to land a fist on Sebastian's face before getting pulled back by a cursing Mike. Mercedes feels like she is in the middle of a horribly written romance movie featuring her date and ex- friend with benefits beating the crap out of each other.

Sebastian and Sam roll around, trying to figure out who can strangle the other the fastest. Mike decides that there is only so much he can do to pry Sam away from the model. Mercedes looks like she is moments from killing the both of them as she tries to pry Sebastian off of Sam.

"Sebastian, let him go!"

Sam finally releases Sebastian. Although it would have been extremely satisfying for him to beat the male model into the ground, he does not want to deal with the cops. He rises from the ground with Sebastian doing the same. Once standing, the two men start to glare at each other.

Mercedes, having enough of the unnecessary drama and orders, trying to cover up her anger the best she can, "Sebastian, can you please can back to our table before the waitress think we've left?"

Sebastian gives Sam one last glare before brushing off his clothes and walking back into the restaurant. Mercedes rolls her shoulders, trying to relieve some stress; it doesn't work. She turns her attention to Mike, who is sending Sam dirty looks. "Can I please talk to Sam? Alone."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

Mike shrugs because he honestly doesn't want to present when the shit hits the fan. All he wants to know is the aftermath. He gives Sam an apologetic, sympathetic, 'good luck, man' look before leaving the former couple. As long as Sam doesn't get hit again, everything should be fine.

Mercedes takes a step forward, shaking her head. "You don't like to keep things simple, do you?"

Sam gives her a crooked grin. He rubs his cheek. It's still painful and he has to admit, he can't be that mad at Sebastian for doing this. He would've done the same if he was in the model's position. "Simple is boring."

"Simple is smart. Simple doesn't resulting in getting punched in the face." Mercedes grabs Sam and inspects his left cheek. It's not as bad as she's thought. That's good; hopefully, Sam doesn't press charges because honestly, he deserved to get punched in the face. "It'll definitely bruise, but it should clear up by the end of the week."

"Thanks."

"You got what you deserved. At least he only punched you. It could've been worse." Mercedes notices that Sam's face is more flustered than usual. "How many beers did you have?"

"Three."

Mercedes nods. Okay, three is good. Three means that Sam isn't in the right state of mind, which means that his confession is only a drunken one. She can deal with drunken confessions; they're not as valid as sober ones. "Consider yourself lucky that your judgment is clouded by alcohol," She says, ignoring Sam's groan of disapproval when she lets him go. "You don't have to worry about me messing up your other cheek for that show out there."

"Mercy-"

"My name is Mercedes."

Sam frowns. He knows that Mercedes is trying to say. "Just because I had some beers doesn't mean I didn't mean what I said."

Mercedes rubs Sam's cheek. "Your sense of timing is horrible." She pauses to glance inside the restaurant where Mike attempts to console Sebastian. She has to remember to thank him later. "My God Sam, why do you have to do this now? Do you know how-?"

"Tell me you love me."

"What?"

"Tell me you love me," Sam repeats. "Tell me that I didn't make a fool out of myself in front of fifty people for nothing."

"Sam-"

"Mercy- Mercedes, just stay it."

Mercedes bites the insides of her cheek. She hates the fact that it feels like college all over again. "Sam, I can't. I'm with Sebastian now. He's a good man and-"

"Everyone thinks he's an asshole!"

"You don't know anything about Sebastian."

"Neither do you." Sam snorts. "You've only known him for two days."

"Really? What about Brittany?" Mercedes asks. She doesn't want to be in another love triangle involving who she had thought was with Santana. "Aren't you dating her? How many dates did you go on with her?"

Sam gulps. Crap, he's forgotten all about that. "We only went on two dates. Two dates do not count as dating- and anyway, she's more interested in Santana than me."

Mercedes frowns, debating whether or not she should believe Sam. Not that it matters, but Sam's explanation does sound a little fishy. "Well then…"

"Mercedes, why won't you give me another chance?" Sam asks, knowing that he may sound a bit pathetic, but he is past the point of caring. "I'll make you the happiest woman in the world, I swear I will."

Mercedes feels like crying.

"I can't. Not now."

"Mercedes-"

Mercedes drops her hands from Sam's cheek. "Go back inside and have Mike take you home. If you even think about driving in your state, I will kill you. We'll talk tomorrow, when you're completely sober."

* * *

Mike has known Sam for a few years. Because of this, he is quite aware that Sam, being Sam, would drunk-call Mercedes at two am, begging her for her forgiveness and threatening to fight Sebastian for her heart again. So in order to prevent all of this from happening, Mike has taken Sam's phone hostage and insists that Sam crash at his place for night. Just in case Sam wants to do something even more damning.

If that is possible.

He feels bad for his best friend. He isn't taking the semi-rejection thing well and because of that, Sam's been in full-fledged sulking mode for the past half-hour. Mike doesn't even need to ask what happened to know that the talk between Sam and Mercedes didn't go well. But for now, he has to put his friend's mental state in the back burner. He has to deal with more important matters, like making sure that Tina doesn't kick him out their apartment.

Tina crosses her arms and glares at her husband as he cautiously walks through the apartment with Sam following close by. She shakes her head with disapproval when Mike mutters something to Sam and points to the couch. Sam just sits down, trying to avoid Tina's harsh look.

"Mercedes called me ten minutes ago," Tina finally says, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips. "She told me everything."

Mike gulps and decides that he needs to man up and face his wife. He knows Tina; she loves him. He doesn't think that she's not going to try to hi him or anything. He didn't do anything wrong; he was only being a good friend.

"Did she…?"

Tina's glare hardens. She cannot believe that Mike has had the audacity to go behind her back and mess up with Operation: Samcedes. After all she's done for him. "Can you please explain to me why the hell were you and Sam spying on Mercedes on her date?"

"We weren't-"

"Tina, it's all my fault." Sam raises his hands because Mike doesn't deserve to get yelled at for something he has done. He speaks up, "Mike doesn't have anything to do-"

Tina turns her glare to Sam, "I'm talking to Mike. I'll deal with _you_ later."

Mike and Sam exchange cautious looks.

"I'm waiting."

"The only reason why Sam and I were there was to see if there was any chemistry between Mercedes and Sebastian. I swear that was all- I didn't think Sam was going to tell Mercedes he was in love with her!"

Sam opens up his mouth to tell his side of the story, but Tina's expression quickly shuts down his idea.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you even think that this was a good idea?"

"He didn't," Sam answers. "He said it wasn't a good idea at all, but I insisted. Don't put the blame on Mike."

Mike sends his friend a thankful look.

Tina throws her hands up. She gives up. She has to be at McKinley at an early time and she's too tired to deal with this stupidity. She gives Mike one last mean look before stomping into her bedroom, not without slamming the door as hard as she can.

Mike flinches. It looks like he will be spending the night on the other couch, listening to Sam moan and groan about being rejected who is dating a man who is supposedly gay.

"I think that went well."

Mike wastes no time picking up a pillow and throwing it at Sam's head. "Just go to sleep."

**My intentions were to have this chapter up a lot earlier, but this semester has been kicking my behind and it's not even the first month yet. Unfortunately, thanks to the insanely large of work I have from both school and work, I don't know what I will be able to update this, or any of my other stories. My goal is to update before March, but I can't make any promises. **

**I want to thank you guys for reading, reviewing, etc. Doing so brings joy to my lie. Feel free to tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is great appreciated.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or anything that has to do with it.**

**Author's note: I am so sorry that it has taken this long to read this chapter. I had no idea what was going on, but apparently, many recently updated stories did not show updates. **

**_Thursday_**

The next morning, Tina vows that she's not going to do anything Operation: Samcedes related until she is confident that Sam has regained his sanity and sure that Mercedes has broken up with her male model fling. She does not care that Santana will not be too pleased with her decision; the bar owner didn't have to deal with last night.

She is going to do her work at McKinley like she's supposed to, maybe have a conversation or two with Kurt and Holly (they do not know what happened last night. Tina has made Santana promised not to tell anyone until she can figure out everything), and console Mercedes who still maybe traumatized from Sam's nearly drunken actions.

If she wasn't married to his best friend, Tina would have _literally_ knocked some sense into Sam.

She is walking back to her desk after spending some time in the employee lounge, getting two cups of coffee (one for her now and one for her later) when she notices her best friend absent-mindedly staring at her computer screen as if she's bored or suffering from writer's block.

Tina looks down at her coffee and sighs. She turns around and approaches her friend. She hands Mercedes a cup of coffee. Mercedes looks like she's going to need it, or maybe two. She pulls a chair and takes a sit next to the fashion editor. "Hey, Mercedes, are you… _okay_?"

Mercedes mumbles thanks and takes a sip of the hot drink. She's grateful for Tina who is always there when her life turns into shit. She shakes her head; no, she's not okay. After last night, she doesn't think she's ever going to be okay. She places the cup down and clears her throat before responding, "I ended it with Sebastian last night."

Tina gasps, not remembering if Mercedes has told her this yesterday. "Come again?"

Mercedes takes another sip. She should have called off- she was moments from doing so earlier this morning, but then remembered she had to have to a mini conference with Figgins about the cover story, with that asshole, Sam. "I called him one in the morning and said that we couldn't do whatever we were doing anymore…"

Tina quickly glances at Sam who looks like he's having a serious conversation with her husband. "Why? I thought you said you liked him."

"I do," Mercedes says because she really does or did. He's a nice guy but- it's all Sam's fault; it always is. "But, then I realized it was only a one-time thing. I didn't plan on staying with him for the rest of my life. But it's okay; he seems to be in a load of drama of his own."

Tina blinks. "What do you mean?"

Mercedes sighs, recalling the events of much earlier this morning. "Apparently, he still has some feelings for his ex-boyfriend," she pauses and frowns. "He had failed to mention me to that he was into men as much as he was into women. And I didn't know he was messing with Blaine."

Tina blinks again. How has Plan E (or is it F? She's lost count after Plan B) commenced without her knowing? She turns around and narrows her eyes at her husband, who must've sensed her irritation because he looks at her and gives her a nervous smile. Damn that Mike; no wonder he wanted to have Blaine's number last night. "I'm so sorry, Mercedes. That must have been heartbreaking- no wonder you wanted to end it."

Mercedes raises an eyebrow then laughs. "Oh no, I found out after I ended everything. We've decided to remain good friends."

"I'm confused- if you didn't know about the gay thing before, then why did you-?" Tina drinks about half of her coffee. "Please don't tell me you're having second thoughts about Sam?"

Mercedes laughs. "Oh Lord no," she pauses. "I think I want to try the single life for a while. I need to rethink my life choices when it comes to men, and I don't think after what I've been through with Shane, I'm ready for another relationship."

Tina doesn't know what to say next- a rare moment. Instead, she almost finishes the rest of her coffee and pats Mercedes on the shoulders. She is dreading the emergency team meeting scheduled for tonight at Santana's Bar. She already knows that Santana is going to blow a fuse.

At the other side of the office, Tina's other half continues to listen to his best friend sulk over his less than desirable actions. Honestly, Mike doesn't think what Sam did was _that_ bad; he certainly got the point across that he was in love with Mercedes, although it resulted in him getting punched in the face by Mercedes' date. Sure, Sam should have approached things a different way, but Mercedes hasn't sent a hit man after him yet, so she can't be that mad at him.

Unfortunately, it seems that Mike is the only person who's seen any good coming out of last night's events. He does not want to talk about the strongly worded text message he's received from Santana this morning. He's too scared even to look at it again.

"I hope you know that Santana wants your head on a silver platter."

Sam sighs. This is expected and the sad thing is, she's not the only one. Sebastian hates his guts, not that he cares. Tina hasn't said one word to him since her rant last night, so she's still mad him. He doesn't even want to deal with Mercedes until she stops glaring at him from her desk.

This is why he shouldn't try to win someone back when he's had a few beers.

He's never drinking again.

"Believe it or not, Santana is the least of my worries," Sam mumbles, roughly opening a rather large bag of gummy worms. He's a tad stress; he needs sugar to make him not slam his head on his desk for the rest of the day. "Now, are you positive that we don't have to worry about Sebastian anymore?"

Mike rolls his eyes. He's lost count how many times he has to reassure Sam that no, Sebastian is not going to pop out of nowhere and continue the fight from last night. "Like I've said, god knows how many times, Sebastian has his own issues to deal with. Blaine seems quite determined to get him back, and I highly doubt Mercedes wants to be in the middle of _that_. But I don't know if it is really over between her and Sebastian."

Mike had no choice but to do damage control last night after Sam and his wife finally went to sleep. He had called Blaine at midnight and informed him about the Sebastian situation. As far as he knew, everything was dealt with and Mercedes was now officially single, again.

The things he does for his friends.

Tina's not going to be happy when she finds out that he's once again done something behind her back. But he was doing it for the sanctity of Operation: Samcedes; she shouldn't really be mad at him.

"Mike, I love you man. You're the bestest friend one can ever ask for."

Mike takes a handful of the gummy worms. Sam better not say anything about the candy; he owes him about three large bags from Costco. "I better be."

"I think you should change careers and join a crisis management company. They'll love you."

Mike snorts, even though he has to admit Sam has a point. He's been doing some serious damage control ever since his wife's forced him to be a part of an insane matchmaking scheme. "That's quite okay. I like writing and not running around fixing people's lives. No matter how important they are to me."

Mike gives him a pointed look.

Sam nervously chuckles and slaps his best friend on the back. "Mike, I swear on everything, that this will be the last time you have to save my ass from my mistakes."

"Don't swear on something you can't keep," Mike mumbles. "Anyway, I don't mind if it's something grave, but I'm not dealing with your love life ever again. You're on your own."

"Dude, _I _don't even want to deal with my love life," he pauses. "When Mercedes and I get married, you're going to be my best man, no questions ask. I'll deal with Steve if he protests, because you know, he is my brother."

"You have to get Mercedes to agree to date you first before you begin the wedding plans."

Sam smirks. "Believe it or not, that doesn't sound impossible. I just have to stop with my drunken confessions and realize that she has to get over the past."

"You _are_ the past."

Sam gives Mike a look. "Not _me_, the rest of the past. You know, Shane and her serious commitment issues and how she doesn't know what she wants until it's too late…"

"Are you sure we're not talking about _you_? You have major commitment issues, and you can't decide what you want if your life depended on it."

"Mike, I lived with Mercedes for four years. I know her - and I don't have commitment issues."

Mike shrugs. He's not going with a man who is in serious denial. "Okay fine, you don't have commitment issues."

"I take back everything good I've said about you. I hate you."

"No, you don't."

Sam frowns and crosses his arms. No, he doesn't even if he hates the fact that Mike is usually right about everything. It's not fair.

"When are you going to have that talk with Mercedes?"

"Right before the meeting with Figgins."

"Are you excited?"

"Yes and no," Sam admits. He's leaning more to no. Based on last night's events, Mercedes seems not to have any interest in being with him- well, at least that she is what she wants to believe. He just wants to make sure that the talk doesn't turn into another screaming session. "I'm going to tell her everything and this time, I am completely sober so she has to believe me. Then she will tell me that she will feel the same."

"Right…" Mike tries not to chuckle. Sam looks determined as ever- not necessarily a good thing. "What makes you think this is going work?"

"Like you have said, I know Mercedes better than anyone in this city. Her resolve almost broke last night. Unfortunately, her guard is stronger than ever. But I'll figure out how to knock that down. I have faith."

Judging from the events of last night, Sam is going to need a lot more than faith. He needs divine intervention and Mike, for once, can't help him with that.

* * *

Mercedes watches the exchange between Sam and Mike; she has a gut feeling that they are talking about her; that is okay. Mike appears to be the more reasonable one; maybe he can talk Sam into rationality.

She has been dreading the meeting with Sam since last night; she had stupidly suggested that they talked once Sam was sober. Unfortunately, it does not look like Sam is suffering from a major hangover. Well, at least she will not have to worry about drunken theatrics during their much needed talk (she has finally come to terms that maybe they should discuss their current relationship).

Mercedes glances at her watch. She has ten minutes before she meets up with Sam, next to the vending machines (they are located in a side room and provide the most privacy save for the bathrooms). The talk is not going to last long; she cannot allow herself to let that happen. Her plan is simple: tell Sam that she does not plan to be intimate with another person anytime soon, and there is nothing he or anyone else can do about it.

It's going to be a piece of cake.

She thinks about what Sam said last night, when he had poured his heart out to her. She should not be surprised that the blond still had feelings for her. She just did not think that he would actually tell her that in front of fifty people…

No, that does not surprise her either. As much as she wants to deny it, she knows Sam very well and she knows that once alcohol starts flowing, the "ain't-shit" Sam comes out in full force and all sensible behavior is pretty much thrown out the window.

Mercedes lets out a sigh as she finishes her last sentence. She and Sam have to hand in the draft of their cover story to Figgins; Sam has said earlier that he will have everything done by the meeting. She prays that he does; the sooner they finish the story, the sooner her life can return back to normal.

Now, she has three minutes.

Tina, who has managed to persuade Kurt to switch desks with her so she can provide Mercedes' moral support, watches Mercedes' expression change from dread to worry in record time. She must be anxious about the talk. "Cedes, don't worry about it. Just tell Sam everything and get on with your life."

Mercedes nodded. Tina is right. She pushes her chair back and marches to the vending machine room; she can feel Sam's eyes on her and about two minutes later, she finds Sam standing in front of her, looking at nervous as she.

This is going to end _splendidly_.

Mercedes clears her throat. "Hi."

"Hi. Mercy- Mercedes," Sam presses on, making sure that Mercedes does not say anything until he explains himself. "Before you say anything, I want to apologize for my horrible, immature behavior last night. I had too many beers, but I did mean everything I said. I do love you and I know that you may not want to have anything to do with me since I did crash your date, which I am also sorry about. I definitely deserved that punch. Heck, I would have done the same, if not worse, if I was in Sebastian's position-"

Mercedes bites her lips, knowing where this is heading, and mutters quietly under her breath. "Sebastian and I are over."

She doesn't know why she has the need to tell him that. Her love life is no longer his concern.

"And I swear to God that I-" Sam stops when he realizes that Mercedes has just stated. He gulps; he must not have heard correctly, "What did you say?"

"I said," Mercedes says in a stern voice. "That Sebastian and I are over," she continues as Sam starts to gawk at her. He looks like he's found out he's has a long lost child or something. "It seems that he has his own romantic drama to deal with… involving another man."

Sam blinks. It's settled; Mike is going to be his best man. He will just have to explain everything to Steve. "Wow…" Mercedes is really single again. It looks like the universe is not after him after all. He scratches the back of his head, trying to think of what he should say next. "So what are you going to do now?"

Mercedes shrugs, refusing to look at Sam who now looks like he's just won the mega-jackpot lottery. "I'm going to put dating and whatnot on the backburner for the time being," she replies. "And revaluate my life choices. Obviously, I must be doing something wrong in my love life."

Sam takes a step forwards, digging his hands in his pockets. Her response was expected; he knows exactly how she feels; he has had his fair share of ruined relationships. "Really?"

Mercedes stares at Sam with curiosity as he takes another step. "Sam…?"

"Tell me how you feel about me. You're not with anyone at this moment so nothing can hold you back, right?" Sam states. He's not going to let Mercedes off this easy. "And please don't lie to me."

"Sam, I can't-"

And people have the nerve to say that he is on denial land.

Sam groans and takes another step, stopping a few inches in front of Mercedes. "Why not? Face it; we belong together. I know it. You know it. Hell, half of McKinley knows it." He smirks at Mercedes' look of surprise. Well, it seems that Tina is much better at keeping secrets that he's thought. "It's true. And about Brittany- we only went on those dates to make you jealous. Though, I don't think it has worked as much as Brittany's claimed." He does not notice Mercedes' uncomfortable expression.

"You have got to be kidding."

Sam shakes his head; he's making progress. "No, I had to resort to drastic measures- the only reason I was at the restaurant was to see how much I had to do to get you back." He pauses and slightly frowns. "It seemed that I had a lot of work to do, but now that he's gone…"

"I can't believe this."

Sam looks at Mercedes straight in the eyes and cups both of her cheeks with his hands. He smiles again. "I love you, Mercedes Jones, and I meant it with all of my heart when I said I would do anything in my power to make you happy."

And with that, he kisses her.

**So I posted a shorter version of this last night because I could not think of anything else. But then, this morning, my inspiration came back and I wrote a longer chapter. There are about two or three more chapters left to this story. I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to send your comments :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Just to let everyone, especially those copy writers and lawyers, know that I do not, under any circumstances, own Glee. If I did, I would not have to take out loans for school, I would have a real, functioning laptop and Samcedes would have a permanent residence in that show**

Sam is kissing her.

Sam Evans, the man whom she still probably has feelings for, but most likely will never admit it because she's Mercedes, is kissing her.

Mercedes cannot believe this. She just can't.

She has to admit, this is certainly unexpected, Mercedes thinks before pushing Sam away from her. She considers slapping him, quite a few times, but then realizes that if she does so, then she would attract attention that she doesn't want to handle that right now.

But damn, she cannot believe that Sam has gathered enough nerve to kiss her like that.

Where the hell was _this_ Sam for the past three years?

"Mercy-"

Mercedes puts her hand up to silence her coworker. Sam has said and done enough; there really isn't anything else for him to say. He's definitely made his point clear. She looks out in the large office space to see if anyone is watching them. Thank God, everyone appears to be focusing all of their attention on Holly, more or less, yell on the phone about something Mercedes can't catch.

She lets out a deep breath. "Sam…" She swears she knows what she wants to say. It sounds so right in her mind, but all words are caught in her throat and damn it, Sam is looking at her with those hopeful beautiful blue eyes. She curses to herself. She wasn't prepared for this, for heaven's sake. "Believe me, you've said enough."

Sam's shoulders slump. Mercedes is right. He doesn't know what else to say. He literally poured his heart out to her, three times, and kissed her. Without getting slapped, he wants to add with pride. He doesn't want to keep on stating that he loves her; it will become too redundant and lose its meaning.

He made a huge step. Mike should be proud; he's taking the initiative, and even though he currently has no idea where he stands in relation to Mercedes, he has done his job and now all he can do is wait.

And at least she kissed him back. That should be a step in the right direction, right?

Mercedes is still staring at Sam, not saying a damn word. Sam is kind of getting tired of this behavior; they have about four minutes to figure their lives out. There is no room for long awkward silences. In all honestly, Mercedes doesn't have to say much. All he wants is for Mercedes to say that she loves him too.

Well, it looks like he has to act on his own once again. He takes a step forward, not paying attention to Mercedes' confused expression. "I'm sorry," He says. "Sometimes, I can't help myself around you."

"I see that."

"I tried to stop this... feeling, God knows I tried," Sam stops right in front of his coworker. "I've been trying for three long years, and I have to tell you, it hasn't worked, not for even a little bit."

"Really?"

One of these days, Sam is going to make Mercedes say more than her usual one word responses.

"Yeah, I've dated, a lot. Messed around with a few girls, several girls, and quite frankly, I don't even remember all of their names. They were nothing, just a void to fill to convince myself that I was over you. I even got a girlfriend; two of them. The last one I had was an actress on Broadway- she's nice enough, but she wanted to get married after two weeks of dating."

Mercedes cannot help but laugh.

Sam smiles. "Yeah, she's an interesting character. But what's more interesting is that made she me take a test."

"A _test_?"

"Yes, a test," Sam slowly runs his hands up Mercedes' arms, he's getting bold again. She's not moving away. Sam takes it as a good sign. "See, all I had to do was close my eyes and imagine who I want to spend the rest of my life with. The first person that I see is the one I want to most."

"Who did you see?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

Mercedes looks up at him, eyes wide. All of those damn feelings from college are coming back to his in full force; she can't even try to fight them now. "You saw me?'

"Yes." Sam holds her face in his hands, occasionally rubbing her cheek with his thumbs. "Mercedes, just tell me what I've done wrong. I'll fix everything; I swear to God, I'll fix every single damn thing."

"Sam- Sammy," Mercedes starts off; her old nickname for the man in front of her sounds foreign from the lack of use. "It's not you, you know that. I can't- I can't do this. I need some time to myself for a while. It's just that with everything with Shane and now Sebastian…"

Sam shakes his head. Mercedes doesn't get it; she just doesn't get it. He lets out a sigh before he has a strong feeling that after this, he will get slapped, and reaches in for another kiss. He is expecting Mercedes to hit him, he is not expecting for her to wrap her hands around his neck and kiss him back, again.

"Hey Mercedes, look what I-"

"God damn it, Kurt!" Sam curses, letting Mercedes go and not believing how much the romantic gods hated him. He lets Mercedes push him to the other side of the mini room. "You can't sneak up on people like that!"

Mercedes looks at her shoes as if there are the most interesting things she has ever seen.

Kurt stops instantly when he sees his two workers in front of him, next to the vender machines, looking like teenagers who just got caught making out in the janitor closet. He clears his throat, clearly surprised. "…found," he finishes, not knowing what he should think about the enrage look on Sam's face and the embarrassed look on his partner's. "Did I interrupt something?"

Mercedes fixes her top and gives Sam a long look. "No, you did not."

Before anyone can say anything else, she pushes past Sam and Kurt and heads towards Figgins' office.

Sam directs a glare at Kurt.

"Was that really necessary?"

Kurt holds his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, Sam. I was not aware that you planned to hook up with my partner near the freaking vending machines. You should have told me this before."

Sam rolls his eyes. He decides that he should follow Mercedes; he's positive that he is already late for the meeting about the article that he has finally managed to finish.

"Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"Don't you know that making out with coworkers at work is against company policies? I'm sure Emma will have a fit if she finds out about this."

Sam groans. Right, Emma has been a rampage recently about "inappropriate behavior." He sighs. "Okay, I'm sorry. Please don't tell Emma. You know she's obsessed with writing people up."

Kurt takes a long sip of his coffee while giving Sam a sly look. "I suppose I will let this one slide. After all, I am a generous man."

Sam knows where this is going. "What do I have to do to keep your mouth shut?"

Kurt shrugs. He forgets that Sam knows how to read one's body language quite well; it's not fair. "Well, since you asked, all I want is a six-pack of cupcakes from Crumbles. And, promise me that you won't break Mercedes' heart. If you haven't noticed, it's pretty fragile thanks to Shane and to a lesser extent, Sebastian."

"Yeah, I noticed." Sam straightens his tie. "Don't worry. I have no intentions on breaking Mercedes' heart. I promise. Um, yeah- I need to go to Figgins before he fires me."

Kurt shakes his head and chuckles as he watches Sam run to the editor-in-chief's office. He smirks before drinking his coffee. Well, it seems that he has some new news he needs to tell his comrades.

**I apologize for the shortness. Sadly, I couldn't think of anything else to write about. I have about two more chapters left for this story and don't worry, the next chapter will be super long to make up for this one. **

**Thanks a lot of all the responses, etc. I simply love them! And by all means, send me some comments! :D**


	18. Chapter 18

**_Monday_**

"Santana, I know this is important for our operations, but I cannot meet up you this week," Tina says, quickly walking through McKinley magazine headquarters.

She is running about twenty minutes late, and she could not even blame on the traffic (the Major Deegan was pretty light during rush hour for once). Her alarms had decided not to work and instead of waking up at 5:30am like she was supposed to, she got out of bed an hour and fifteen minutes later.

Of course Mike was no help. He had only glanced at her and mumbled, "Good luck," and went back to sleep. The lucky bastard didn't have to be at work until nine.

"Yes, I am aware that Sam had completely derailed Operation: Samcedes. I had yelled at him about that Thursday night, but this is employee bonding week, and I am in charge of making sure that all of the events are successful. So I'm swamped until Sunday. You should talk to Holly and Kurt for any updates, for I am positive they will be some throughout the day."

Tina quietly curses as she almost drops her cup of coffee.

"I will call you tonight."

Tina feels bad. She really does, she has a responsibility for hooking up Samcedes, but this is not the time to play matchmaker. She quickly waves at Holly who has just emerged from the elevators.

"How's it going, Chang-squared," Holly says as soon as she reaches her friend. She offers to hold Tina's briefcase as she rushes through the crowd. "Ready for employee week?"

Tina gives her thanks before shaking her head and releasing a sigh. "On paper, I should be. I have everything prepared. I'm living off three hours of sleep preparing for this week." She sighs again. "But I'm still kind of nervous. This is my first time doing this, you know?"

"You'll be fine."

"I sure hope I will. I've spent too much time working on this to have it all go to waste."

Tina stops and looks around. Where is Sam? She could have sworn she had told him several times that he needed to be at McKinley extremely early for Employee Week. He is supposed to be helping her coordinate the first event.

She's going to kill him.

"Can you please put my briefcase on my desk," Tina asks, glancing at her watch. "There's something I have to do."

"Sure."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"Rory!" Tina calls out as soon as Holly leaves. She rushes to her coworker who is printing out some fliers, while trying to balance her phone and her coffee in one hand. "Hi, why are you making the flyers by yourself? Isn't Sam supposed to be helping you out?"

Actually, Ryder, one of the interns who is never on time for his shift, is supposed to help Rory but Tina wants to get the scoop on why Sam's is unusually late for work.

"Yeah, bout that," Rory makes a dramatic pause. "Sam's not here. He called earlier and requested a day off. He will not be participating in today's activities."

"What do you mean he's not _here_?"

Rory gulps. Tina is nice, she really is, but when she gets mad, she gets angry. And if Mike isn't around to face her anger, everyone within in a mile radius of her will. "He called in sick," he replies in a meek voice. "Something about having the stomach flu. I told him that it was mandatory to show up to work, because, you know, of the workshop, but he said that he wouldn't be able to sit through today's activities without emptying his stomach contents."

In other words, Tina believes that Sam Evans has called in sick because he is too chicken to face Mercedes.

Tina feels like banging her head against the nearest hard surface. Of course Sam wouldn't be here, because that would make too much sense. "Call Sam right back, and tell him that if he doesn't get his lemon-bleaching hair butt out here in two minutes, I am going to make him wish he was never born and confiscate his stash of gummy worms in his desk."

"Yes, ma'am," Rory says before scurrying away, bumping into the mail man and his cart along the way. And then he stops and turns his attention back to the fuming copy editor, "Sam bleaches his hair with lemons?"

"Just go call him!"

Tina drinks half of her cup of coffee while she watches Rory frantically call Sam. She slight frowns when Rory gives her an apologetic look and runs back to Tina, panting. "He's not picking up. Actually, he did pick up but then hung up. I think he's doing this on purpose."

Tina grumbles and curses Sam to the lowest pit of Hell. She pats Rory on the shoulders, feeling a bit bad for scaring him. "Thank you, Rory. You can back to doing the fliers. I will deal with Sam."

She takes out her phone and calls her husband. He should know what is up. He is Sam's best friend. "Hey Mike, this is Tina," She begins, trying to balance her cell phone between her shoulder and ear while looking through her note pad, making sure that everything is on schedule. "Can you please do me a huge favor and go to Sam's and drag him to work?"

Tina rolls her eyes as her husband provides her with the same excuse Rory gave her. She doesn't care what her assistant or Mike says; Sam is faking. She knows when he is sick, and right now, Sam isn't sick. One of her acquaintances, Marley, who just happens to be Sam's neighbor, had informed her through a text message that she saw Sam walking outside looking perfectly normal earlier this morning.

"I don't care if he is having a damn aneurysm; get him out of his apartment and in McKinley headquarters as soon as possible. He was _supposed_ to be here an hour ago."

Mike accuses her of being unreasonable.

"No, I am not being unreasonable. The man isn't sick. If he was sick, he would be in bed now, not outside taking a stroll down the block." Tina rolls her eyes. "Mike, don't argue with me. Just get Sam and tell him he has five minutes to get to McKinley. I'm about to have a board meeting in ten and it's highly advisable that he shows up."

Twenty minutes later, Sam rushes into McKinley headquarters as Tina begins to brief the staff about employee week. He tries to sneak in the office without being detected and he almost succeeds but unfortunately, Sugar has left her work bag in the middle of the floor and Sam trips over it. He looks up and gives everyone who is staring at time some confused and others amused a sheepish smile as he gets up from the floor. He purposely disregards Tina's glare. She is going to kill him, he's decided, right after Santana kills him.

He rubs the back of his head and blushes from embarrassment, something he has been doing quite a lot in the past few weeks. "Sorry, Sugar's bag was in the way," he says before getting pushed aside by an angry Sugar as if it is his fault that she's left her purse in a vulnerable spot. "How is everyone doing?"

No one says anything except for Tina who points to a chair and almost growls. "Sit there and I don't want to hear you _breathe_ until this meeting's over. Got it?"

Sam nods.

"Thank you," Tina clears her throat and puts on her power point presentation. "Hello everyone, welcome to the first annual McKinley Employee Week 2013. During this week, we will be participating in numerous activities that will help strengthen our bonds between our coworkers. All of you in this room have been assigned to certain duties to make sure this week is successful…"

Sam is grateful that he is kind of out of sight of Tina and that he's sitting next to Mike, who has only came to the meeting five minutes before Sam. He looks around the boardroom and sees everyone there except for one person. He glances back at Mike who appears to be listening to every word his wife is saying. Sam leans in and whispers to Mike as low as he can so Tina won't yell at him, "Where's Mercedes? Didn't she say she was going to come today?"

Mike shrugs. "Beats me, but I highly suggest you listen to my wife. She is dangerous when she's pissed off and has a hot cup of coffee in her hands."

Sam nods and sits up in his chair. Mike is right; he needs to be on Tina's good side for the rest of week.

Everyone's attention shifts from Tina to the door when it opens.

Sam gives Mercedes a wide smile.

Mercedes only gives him a blank look.

"I'm sorry for being late," She says as soon as she walks into the boardroom. There's construction on the Brooklyn Bridge," she sighs as she walks to the other side to sit next to Sugar. There is an extra seat right in front of the door, so in theory she doesn't have to walk around, but the extra seat is between Sam and Holly. And it's too early in the morning to deal with that. "You know how that goes. There was bumper to bumper traffic throughout the entire bridge."

"It's okay Mercedes," Tina says sweetly. "I understand. The traffic in his city during rush hour is no joke. And anyway, you're only ten minutes late," her expression turns deadly when she turns her attention to Sam. "Not an hour and a half _unlike some people_."

Sam gulps and slumps down his seat.

Mercedes quickly glances at Sam and sits down. It seems that Tina is talking about Sam. She shrugs and takes out her notepad. She looks at Sam again and sighs when he winks at her. She concludes that she needs to avoid him for the rest of the week.

"This is not the time to play eye-ping pong, not with my wife watching you like a hawk," Mike whispers, giving his wife an innocent when she slightly glares at him. He mouths an apology.

Sam glances at Mercedes again. "She started it."

"My God, how old are you? You sound like a ten year old. Just don't look at Mercedes for ten minutes and keep quiet."

"Yes, dad."

* * *

"Dude, my wife twelve o'clock, and she does not look very happy."

Sam leans back in his chair and watches Tina march straight up to him. He sighs. All he wants to do is finish his paperwork and help Sugar out with the banner before the employee week officially starts up in an hour. That's all."

"She hasn't been happy with me for quite a while."

Mike nods, "True, but this is another level a

Before Sam can respond, Tina reaches him with her hands on her hips. "Sam, we have to talk."

Mike gives him a sympathetic look but does not say anything.

Sam groans as Tina drags him to the vending machine room.

"What did you do to Mercedes?"

Sam blinks. He didn't do anything, at least he doesn't think. He could've sworn he was on good terms with Mercedes this morning.

"I didn't do anything. What are you talking about?"

Sam has decided that his relationship with Mercedes for the past two weeks have been nothing but bipolar. One second, they're getting along pretty well, _too well_ judging from this weekend and last night, and then they're back to being mad at each other the next. Well, Mercedes is the one who is mad.

Sam doesn't know what he did wrong. He hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since the Thai restaurant incident. He's actually listened to Mike's advice and the cover story is all done; it's currently being edited.

"Sam Evans, you better apologize to Mercedes for whatever you did or so help me God-"

"Don't worry about it, Tina, I got this under control."

"You don't have anything under control, that's your problem," Tina nearly shots, trying to refrain herself from knocking her husband's best friend upside his head with her clipboard. "If you did want you were supposed to do, then I wouldn't have had to waste the past few weeks trying to fix up your love life!"

Mike slaps his forehead and slides down his seat, not sure if he wants to watch or hear Operation: Samcedes fall apart right before his eyes.

"What…?"

Tina sputters and her faces instantly turns into a deep red color that only appears when Tina is either embarrassed or guilty. In this case, it has a bit of both. "Um… did I actually say that out loud…?"

"Tina, what the hell is going on?"

Tina gives Sam a guilty smile. Santana is not going to be happy when she finds out about this- but honestly, it is Sam's fault. If he did what he was supposed to do, the two of them wouldn't be in this situation.

"Operation Samcedes."

"What?"

"Operation Samcedes," Tina repeats. She finishes her third cup of coffee continues, "We, as in me, Santana, Kurt, Holly and to a lesser extent, Mike are a part of this elaborate mission to get you and Mercedes back together since it's blatantly obviously that you two couldn't do it alone."

"Santana said she wasn't going to go through it. She promised that she would let me deal with my private life by myself. How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks."

"_Jesus_, Tina."

"I'm sorry Sam. It was all Santana's idea I swear. She's a very convincing woman, you know. I know this may sound surprising, but we all became a part of Operation Samcedes because we thought that you and Mercedes deserved each other." She blinks then narrows her eyes. "You honestly didn't know?"

"No, I didn't know. If I did, I would've stopped you guys a long time ago."

Tina rolls her eyes. "You- but you pretended to date Brittany for like two days. Where did you think that idea came from?" Tina pushes then has a flashback of the failure of Plan D. "It was a part of Operation: Samcedes."

"I thought it was Mike's idea."

Tina rolls her eyes again. Sam has known Mike for a very long time, almost as long as she. He should know that Mike does not interfere with people's lives; that job is reserved for her and her alone. "Mike, really? He didn't even want to be a part of this matchmaking thing in the first place."

"How did Sebastian come into the picture?"

"He was a part of Plan D, which was to make you and Mercedes jealous of each other by pretending to date other people." Tina frowns. "It was my idea at first- but I told them it was a bad idea, but no one wanted to listen to me. If you really want to blame anyone for the whole Sebastian fiasco, blame Kurt. He said that Sebastian was only interested in men, not women too."

Sam doesn't know what to say. He should be mad; he doesn't appreciate his friends and coworkers going behind his back to fix something that has been broken for the past several years. He should call Santana right now and demand an explanation. But his anger dissipates as soon as it comes. He supposes that they all have good intentions; that counts, right?"

"Does Mercedes know?"

Tina shakes her head and looks through the room opening just to see Mercedes asking Unique for something she cannot decipher; they are too far away. "No and frankly, I want to keep it that way. No offense, but I was more afraid of her reaction to Operation Samcedes than yours."

"None taken. I completely understand." Sam mutters something under his breath that Tina can't catch. He runs a hand through his hair and says, "So this operation- whatever, it's over right? I don't think I'm supposed to know about the plan."

Tina bites her lip. Operation Samcedes can't be over, not like this, not after all of the work she and the others have done for the sake of matchmaking. "Operation Samcedes is not over until you two are officially official," she responds, patting Samcedes shoulders hard. "Therefore if you want us to get out of your life, which I'm sure you do, try to stay on Mercedes good side and attempt to win her back without any theatrics."

"That's the plan, though I still don't understand why she's mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Communication is the basis of any relationship, Sam. Don't stand here and speculate; talk to her."

While Sam tries to talk to Mercedes without getting hit or yelled at, Tina looks through the contents stuck on her clipboard to see if there is anything she needs to do before the week's events starts off in an hour. So far, everything is good and because of this, she decides that maybe she can do some snooping around regarding Operation Samcedes.

She first goes to Kurt, who is sneaking some pound cake into his mouth. If there is anyone who knows any information, besides Holly, it's Kurt.

"Oh Kurt, thank god you're here," Tina says as soon as she approaches Kurt's desk. "How is your morning going?"

"Can't complain. I'm actually looking forward to this little employee bonding week." Kurt smiles. "When does it officially start?"

"In an hour."

"Okay, good. I still have time to eat my breakfast."

"That's good. Do you know what is up with Mercedes?" Tina asks taking a slice of Kurt's apple. She sits on his desk. "She doesn't look too thrilled with Sam. And why did she ask Unique for some cover up and covering her neck with a thick scarf?"

Kurt raises an eyebrow and takes a sip of his latte. "Well, she did go home with Sam last night…"

"_What_?""

Kurt stares at Tina astonished and nearly drops his drink. "Oh you didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know!" Tina practically shrieks, causing everyone in the office to look at her with confusion and curiosity. She continues with a whisper, "I thought they were just meeting up to discuss the final draft of their story."

"Honey, they did a lot more than that…" Kurt gives Tina another surprised look. "Seriously, you didn't know? Aren't you and Mercedes best friends?"

"Oh my god…" Tina brings a hand her mouth. "I cannot believe this- Hold up, so does this mean…?"

Kurt shakes his head. "Sadly no, according to Mercedes, who called me earlier this morning, it was only one time thing. She was caught up in the moment and had way too many glasses of wine." Kurt crosses her arms and shakes her head. "She let out a slip that she only had two glasses of wine. Two glasses of wine don't make Mercedes do something she wouldn't want to do. I know her limit."

"Oh my god…"

"In all honestly, I shouldn't be that surprised. I mean, they were making out near the vending machines on Friday."

"How am I finding out of this now?" Tina asks hitting Kurt on the arm with her pen. "Aren't we on the same team? We're a part of Operation Samcedes."

Kurt shrugs. "Sam gave me two boxes of Crumbs cupcakes in return for my silence."

"Cupcakes?" Tina shakes her head. She doesn't even want to know. She takes a deep breath, trying to process all of this unexpected information. "How did you find out about them sleeping together in the first place?"

"It's only speculation," Kurt says. "I'm just assuming that they did, so don't go around saying that you heard it from me. I don't need to be on both Sam's and Mercedes' hit list."

"Kurt, just tell me what happened?"

"Well, I was meeting up with Blaine last night at Santana's Bar," Kurt nods when Tina gapes at him. "I know. I know, but that's for another story. So anyway, I met up with Blaine last night for a few drinks. I originally wanted to go to a bar near my place, but Santana had a buy two drinks and get the third one free special and I'm currently broke beyond belief so I was like, what the heck? So while I was drinking a strawberry daiquiri while Blaine ranted to me about his Sebastian drama, I just happened to see Mercedes and Sam at the other side of the bar looking quite cozy."

"No way…"

"Yes way and it gets even better. So I had to interrupt Blaine out of respect because you know I wasn't going to pay attention to his rant when our two love birds were practically on top of each other. Blaine of course complied because he loves watching fuckery going down as much as I do-"

"Where was Santana during all of this?"

"She was yelling at one of her bartenders who were sucking faces with a patron."

"Oh."

"Anyway, of course I am the worst people watcher in the universe so I wasn't surprised when Sam and Mercedes caught me and Blaine gawking at them."

"Were they mad?"

"Surprisingly no. They actually ignored us right after that. They were getting bolder with their hands by the second. Blaine and I couldn't believe what we were witnessing. I thought about approaching them, you know, crashing their little party, but the last time I did that Sam looked like he wanted to hurt me, so I resisted all temptations. It was really hard though…"  
"How did you know they went home together?"

"Oh right, so about thirty minutes later, the lovebirds moved several seats over so they could get a better view of the very interesting karaoke show that was going on stage. They were close enough so we could get some snippets of their conversation. Long story short, Mercedes mentioned something about spending the night over Sam's because she didn't want to go home alone; it was almost midnight. Sam, as you could imagine, looked pretty eager to comply and then before you know it, they left the holding hands and whisperings sweet nothings in each other's ears."

Tina gasped and then wonders why Mercedes has failed to mentioned this piece of information to her. Granted, her phone died last night and she wasn't able to get the charge until this morning before work, and she hasn't been able to speak to Mercedes since she's arrived at work, but still. "Oh wow… no wonder they were late to work. Thank you for telling me this, Kurt, thank you very much."

"No problem, but you didn't hear any of this from me."

"Of course."

* * *

While Tina and Kurt continues to gossip about what supposedly happened last night at Santana's Bar, Sam actually takes Tina's suggestion and goes looking for Mercedes so they can talk like rational adults. He asks various coworkers about the whereabouts of Mercedes and no one seems to know the answer (Unique is definitely no help. She only gives Sam a sassy look and tells him to look for Mercedes himself.) Sam thinks about giving up for the time being, but then he sees Mercedes heading to the woman's bathroom.

Sam decides to follow her. He thinks about not going into the bathroom, because being a man, he's technically not allowed to go inside, but he does anyway, hoping that there is no one else inside but Mercedes.

"Do you know what this is?" Mercedes says as soon as she witnesses Sam entering the woman's bathroom, holding up a small box. She doesn't even shout at him to get out, she is just that annoyed.

"Good morning to you too…" Sam slowly closes the door and rays that no one has seen him. He doesn't want to think of the lecture he would receive from Emma about going into the woman's bathroom. He stares at the object in Mercedes' hand and tilts his head to the side in slightly confusion. "No, what is it?"

Mercedes sighs she takes out a cotton pad from her purse. She opens the box, grumbles something under her breath, removes her scarf and starts to pat whatever is in the box onto her neck.

Sam watches in bewilderment. "Mercedes…?"

"I am using cover up," Mercedes replies inspecting her neck through the mirror. She then puts on more makeup. "And do you know I have to use cover up?"

Sam is afraid to answer.

"It's because you don't-ugh," She motions Sam to the sink and reveals her neck. She gives him a pointed look. "See?

Sam eyes widen at the darkened spot at the nape of Mercedes' neck. He could've sworn that it didn't look that noticeable last night. "Oh…"

"Yeah, oh."

"I'm sorry?"

Mercedes rolls her eyes.

"I couldn't help myself. I love your neck." He pauses. "Is that you're mad at me?

Mercedes raises her eyebrow. "I'm annoyed yes, because I feel like I'm high school again, covering up hickeys so I won't have to hear anything from anyone, but that's about it. Who said I was mad at you?"

"Tina did, kind of. She gave me a lecture about how I should talk to you."

"She would," Mercedes glances at her neck again, satisfied by the work she's done, puts everything away and then sighs. "Don't worry I'm not mad at you… yet. But I know Emma will be if she finds out you're in here. You should leave."

Sam flashes her a smile and opens the door, "After you, ma'am."

Mercedes shakes her head in mock shame and kisses Sam on the cheek. "Thank you, Sam."

**I'm so sorry for the three-month hiatus. I had a major writer's block on this story and couldn't think of anything to right until two days ago. But since this is the summer, I will be able to update more.**

**Thanks for ready, favs, alerts and reviews. I love them all and don't forget to leave a comment!**


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